Changes in Destiny
by hatashikitty
Summary: A story in the works about Cale, Sage, Rowen, and Ghost of the Dawn's original character, Robyn. The Ronin Warriors believe they are once again safe, until Kayura and the Warlords show up with some very disturbing news.
1. Prologe: A Glance at the Storm

Changes in Destiny

Prolog: A Glance at the Storm

By Hatashi Kitty

_What have I done?_

The young man lay on his family's couch, starring at the ceiling through the strands of thick blond hair that covered most of his face. His violet eyes were fixated onto one spot, but he didn't really see what was in front of him. His pale face was gaunt and hollow from lack of sleep, and from too many missed meals. He felt like he had no more energy for anything, much less to read the textbook draped over his chest. This same young man held within him a power of an ancient armor, one that chose him to protect the weak and innocent.

_What have I done?_

But that power wouldn't help him here. The Armor of Halo couldn't turn back time and change the events that had weighted down Sage for so long. He had battled demons, Warlords and Nether spirits, yet he was reduced to a pitiful puddle of flesh brought down by deep sorrow.

_How could I have let this happen? What have I done?_

Just as he had done many times before, the memories of the past invaded his thoughts and unwanted tears flowed freely down his pale face. A past that scarred him beyond anything else past trials had torn at him.

_Why did it have to happen this way? Why couldn't it have been me? It should have been me? If only I could have prevented it. If only. . ._

As much as he wished he could and how much he tried, Sage was unable to return to the life he had only a few weeks ago. How could such a short period of time change his entire life? He couldn't concentrate at school, even though he only had a week and a half until graduation. He couldn't even focus on living, most of the time someone had to remind him to eat. The only thing he could really think about is what happened to Robyn. . .and what he did to Rowen.

_Rowen, I'm so sorry. I don't know why I did it. I'm sorry what I did. I'm sorry I couldn't save Robyn._

The words he wished he could say to his best friend would forever hang over his head, unspoken. It had been a week since Rowen had disappeared. After what happened to Robyn, Sage didn't think his heart could stand the sorrow of losing someone else. Sage had scoured the city in his armor, looking in any place Rowen could have been. But it wasn't just sorrow that drove him, it was also regret and guilt. Sage needed to find his friend soon, or the pain within his chest would burst out. He had to tell him everything, he had to explain everything that he should have told Rowen at the beginning. How sorry he was, his pain, how much he needed his best friend in this time of sorrow, and what had happened that horrible night.

Tired of crying, Sage turned onto his side so he could curl up into a fetal position with his face against the cushions of the couch, as if hoping to block out everything until the world righted itself. Sage knew if he turned around, he could still see It out of the corner of his eye. But he didn't need to see to know that It lay in a long glass box on the mantle above the fireplace for everyone to see and admire, reminding him of the night Rowen ran away.

It was his Grandfather's katana, passed down from one generation of Date to another. Why did it had to be that sword? Why did it had to be in his hand at that exact moment? Why was it still there where Sage could see it and haunt him?

Sage closed his teary eyes to stop the images in his head, but they still came relentlessly. They kept on flashing through his mind, like an old movie projector. Faster, and faster, and faster. . .

RING!

Sage jumped as the phone broke the silence. It felt strange to be startled by something so normal. Sage could feel his body strain as he lifted himself up to answer the phone.

"Hello?" Sage said weakly.

On the other end, nobody answered.

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Sage pressed his ear closer to the telephone, straining to the sound of someone breathing softly. "Who is this?" Sage asked tentatively. A thought came into his head and his heart beat quickened as he silently prayed. "Rowen? Rowen, is that you?" _Please let it be him. Please._

To the teen's disappointment, a cold, cruel laugh seeped through the receiver. "Guess again," a deep voice mocked.

Sage felt a twinge of familiarity as the voice laughed again. "Who are you?" Sage demanded.

"I thought you would remember your old friend, Halo."

At the name of his armor, Sage stiffened.

"Think, Halo. Think very hard."

"Cale," Sage spat the name out.

"That's right. It seems your virtue is a little rusty," Cale laughed.

"What do you want?" Sage muttered.

"We have some unsettled business, old friend." Cale spoke the last words full of scorn.

"Sorry Cale, but I'm not up to dealing with you," Sage growled, ready to put down the receiver.

"I don't think you understand. You and I _will_ fight," Cale pressed on. "I wouldn't want to have to do anything to Strata."

"Rowen! You have Rowen!" Sage whispered trying to keep his temper, his blood starting to boil, but some part of him was relieved to have some sort of idea where Rowen is. "Where is he? Is he okay?" Sage waited for a reply. "Please, let me talk to Rowen, to make sure he's okay."

"You'll see him soon," Cale answered curtly. "But if you're so desperate to hear him, I'm sure I can make him scream for you."

Sage's stomach twisted and shrank at the sadistic threat. "You pig faced, son-of-a. . ."

"Oh, did that hit a nerve?" Cale laughed again. "At least I have your attention now."

Sage was very quiet. It took all his willpower just to keep himself from yelling at his caller.

"We shall meet at midnight tonight," Cale continued, his voice very serious. "Fifty miles South of where you are, there is a plot of sand dunes. You can find me there. If I don't see you there, I might have to get ugly with your little pal. And come alone."

Then the line went dead.

Sage stood by the phone, not making any movement to place the receiver back on its hook. Instead, his grip started to loosen and the phone slipped out of his hand and down to the floor. He was shaking uncontrollably, not just with rage but a mixture of fear and relief. In a few hours he would see his friend again. Sage wanted to sink to the floor, the strain almost getting to him. But he had to be strong for the fight soon to come.

The Bearer of Halo looked out the window. Already the sun was sinking slowly into the mountains, leaving a trail of warm colors on the sky and cloud. He could see the moon slowly coming up into the sky, and the stars starting to sparkle in the sky. But soon the nightly lights would be blotted out by large thunder storm coming toward Toyama.

_The dark night will give him an advantage, but the lightning from the storm will give me more power_, Sage observed. _Did he intend for us to fight during the storm when both our armors will be at their strongest?_

Sage reached into his pocket, and withdrew the small green orb that was the essence of Halo. Inside glowed the Kanji of his virtue. Wisdom. Right now, Sage was feeling everything but wise. _How can I be wise when I have let down so many people?_ Sage thought. _Is there any redemption for all the pain I caused? _

"Wisdom," Sage reminded himself and closed his eyes in concentration. He needed to be as close to his virtue for the Armor of Halo to be at its best. He soon felt the weight of his orb disappear, and the touch of cold metal on his skin. When he opened his eyes, Sage was fully armored.

For hours, Sage sat in a lotus position, meditating and preparing his mind and body for the battle. Soon it was time to leave. He stepped out of his house into the whipping wind and the beating rain. Lightening flashed viciously, zigzagging across the sky, highlighting the Armor of Halo. A clap of thunder shook the air and earth soon after.

_Good_, Sage thought. _This storm is just how I feel. Beware Cale, I have sworn to protect this world and especially those I love. Not only is it my duty, but my destiny._

Sage smiled sourly. _What was it that Rowen said before?_

_"I am a Ronin Warrior. Destiny chose me to protect this world. So I will."_

Sage smiled, the words his friend said two weeks ago echoed in his soul giving him strength. He is a Ronin Warrior, too. This battle may not be for the world, but he was protecting something just as important.

"I'm doing this for you, Rowen," Sage said into the wind. "And when I get you back, we'll talk. Then maybe things will get a lot better." With that promise, Sage's determined grip on his long sword tightened, and stepped out into the storm to meet his opponent.


	2. Chapter 1: Danger Knocking Again

Changes In Destiny

Chapter 1: Danger Knocking Again

by Hatashi Kitty

"Thanks for helping me with my spring cleaning, guys," Mia shouted at the bottom of her attic stairs.

"Sure."

"No problem."

"You're welcome."

"Any time."

Mia smiled as she carried the box she had in her arms up the stairs. She could just barely hear the boy's voices above the radio playing in the kitchen.

"Joy to the world.

For all the boys and girls.

Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea.

Joy to you and me."

Kento was swinging his hips to the music as he swept the mahogany wooden floors in Mia's dinning room, his deep voice booming out each word. Ryo joined in just as loudly, using a ragged, old feather duster as a microphone. Cye's higher tenor voice was almost drowned out by the two as he washed dishes in the kitchen sink. He was one of the few who was actually doing work while the music played. Rowen was the final member of this quartet, not hiding the fact that he sang off key. He was on the counter, emptying the cupboards of dusty dishes for Cye to clean. The only one not singing was Sage who was quietly drying the dishes Cye was finished with. He absolutely refused to join in with the singing, although he couldn't help but tap his foot lightly to the tune.

Through all the noise, it was a surprise that the boys even heard the phone. Right away they turned the radio down, and stared at the electronic with confused looks.

"Shouldn't we answer that?" Cye asked, his hand hovering above the receiver.

"No, it's not our home," Sage answered folding his arms.

"But if we don't, Mia might miss an important call," Rowen objected.

"I was taught it was rude to answer the phone in someone else's . . . "

"Hello!?" Kento said picking up the phone.

"Kento, weren't you listening to a word I said," Sage seethed, clenching his fists at the bigger Ronin behind his back.

Kento put his finger up to his lips for silence, his serious look especially directed to Sage, much to the Bearer of Halo's annoyance. "Yeah, Mia's home. Hold on, please," Kento spoke into the receiver. "Hang onto this for me, dude," he told Sage, and tossed the phone to him.

As Kento ran out of the room, Sage practically had to dive for the phone before it hit the floor.

"MIA! PHONE!" Kento shouted from the bottom of the attic stairs.

"Coming," was the reply. Soon the brunet came rushing down the stairs. "I didn't even hear the phone. Thank you for answering it for me."

"No problemo."

Sage handed the phone to Mia while glaring at Kento.

"Where were you raised Kento? In a barn?" Sage growled at the larger teen.

"Noooo," Kento replied like a cow.

Ryo snickered at Kento's pun.

"What's so funny, Ryo?" Sage turned on the dark-haired youth.

"No-o-o-othing," Ryo bleated like a goat.

Sage decided to let the two goof-offs have their laugh, and refused to say anything else least he is mocked once more.

Rowen came up to his friend, and placed his hand on top of Sage's head, smashing down the blond's hair. "Hey Sage, quit showing off. Just because you were raised like a gentleman, don't mean you can pick on us less proper people."

"Is something wrong, Sage?" Cye asked worriedly. "You've been cranky all day. What's up?"

Sage's countenance changed to that of someone who was hiding something. He was somewhat shocked that Cye could read him so well.

"Come on, Sage," Ryo assured his friend by putting his hand on Sage's shoulder. "You can tell us."

"You're going to think I'm stupid worrying about it," Sage sighed. "Last night I had a dream. It was a really bad nightmare. I dreamed that something was coming. Something dark and evil."

The others grew silent. The empty space around them seemed to have grown colder and more shadowy as Sage's words lingered in their thoughts.

"What is it?" Ryo asked soberly.

Sage shook his head. "I don't know, but it was just a dream. It could be nothing."

"Yeah, it was just probably a nightmare," Kento laughed, trying to lighten everyone up. But his laugh was nervous and hollow.

"Let's not worry about it," Rowen told them. "If there was something really wrong, our armors would have told us, right?"

At this time, Mia walked in. The five Ronins jumped at her footsteps. "You guys have been really working hard for me," Mia told them, her forehead wrinkled with worry. "Are all of you okay? You seem a little tired?" she asked, noticing that Sage was a little pale. "Why don't you guys take a rest? I have to run an errand, so watch the house for me." Mia quickly grabbed her car keys and left in a rush.

"So, what do you guys want to do?"Ryo asked, plopping onto a couch.

A wide grin appeared on Kento's mouth. "I have an idea."

"Now I have a really bad feeling," Sage told them solemnly.

* * *

Mia walked into the house an hour later, much longer than she thought she would be. But she wasn't alone. After whispering to her guest, she called out, "Hey, guys. Where are you?"

"In here," Ryo shouted from what sounded like was the kitchen.

As she wended her way to the kitchen, Kento came flying through the house to what looked like the bathroom. _What's wrong with him?_ she thought. Her question was answered when she stepped into the kitchen. She gasped at the sight.

Rowen and Cye both had shot glasses in their hands, filled with clear liquid. Both of them brought the glass to their lips, and downed them with one gulp. Ryo and Sage both had their heads down on the table as if sleeping. Right away Mia remembered that there were some old bottles of liquor in the basement that her grandfather left. Could her sweet dear boys have found them, and provoked each other into drinking? Could Kento be throwing up in her toilet right now? Could Ryo and Sage be completely drunk?

"What do you think you're doing?" Mia half-shouted.

The four boys snapped into attention, and looked up at her. Rowen looked at his shot glass. "It's not what you think, Mia. It's just water."

"Did you actually think we would be stupid enough to drink?" Sage said with a smile.

Mia laughed at her misunderstanding. "What are you guys doing?"

"It's a game," Ryo exclaimed. "It's to see how long we can go without going to the bathroom."

"I see that Kento just lost," Mia said as at that moment the young man just walked in.

Kento smiled happily, showing he was a good sport. "Now it's just down to Rowen and Cye. Take Rowen out, buddy. Show him who Torrent is made of."

"Oh yeah. Rowen is going to win," Ryo challenged Kento.

"Why would you say that?" Kento demanded.

Sage was the one who answered that question. "With Rowen's lethargic sleeping patterns, he would have to have a bladder the size of a melon."

"Is that supposed to be a complement?" Rowen asked.

"Guys, could you hurry up with your game?" Mia pleaded. "I have someone here who needs to talk to you."

The five boys then noticed a young girl that shyly stayed behind Mia. She looked to be about fifteen in age. Her violet hair was put into two ponytails that draped down her front. Sitting on her head was a round blue hat with a yellow daisy. She wore a yellow V-neck short sleeve shirt with light blue caprees. On her feet were some tan sandals. Her face, clothes, hair, and even the way she stood there showed she was young, but her presence seemed strangely familiar, like some a distant relative they only saw a few times.

Once the boys saw her, they couldn't help but think they'd seen her before.

"We can't keep her waiting," Cye told Rowen. "I give up."

"Oh yeah, I'm the winner," Rowen sang and dance with victory in his step.

"Now let's see what this young lady wants," Sage came right to the point.

"Just a minute. I need to use the little boy's room," Rowen said anxiously, and sprinted to the bath room. Just as he believed he was in, Cye dashed in and locked him out. "Hey, Cye! I was going to use it first."

"Too late!" was the water warrior's answer.

Rowen patiently waited by the door for it to open. He soon became antsy when there was the sound of a flush, but no opening of the door. "Cye, you done yet? Come on out?"

"No," came the reply.

"Come on, Cye. I really need to go."

Ryo and Kento snickered.

"Hey, Rowen. Pee on your own time," Kento teased.

"Rowen, how do you spell cup?" Ryo asked him with an evil grin.

Normally Rowen would have some retort ready, but it took all his energy just to keep himself together.

"For crying out loud, Cye," Sage yelled. "Let him in before he pops."

Cye opened the door graciously. "Here you are, Rowen."

Rowen didn't say anything, but leapt into the bathroom slamming the door behind him. A moment later, he exited, hands on hips, looking much more composed and happier. By this time, everyone had sat down around the girl. Mia and the girl shared a two-person couch. Across from them Sage and Kento sat on a bigger couch. Ryo lay stretched out on the floor, and Cye sat in a chair nearby. Rowen took a seat next to Sage.

All eyes were now on the girl. She seemed nervous that they were now quietly watching her.

"Go ahead," Mia told the girl with a gentle nudge. "They're all yours."

The girl nodded, and stood up. Her childish nervousness melted away. She now seemed possessed with a commanding presence, like someone who has seen battle. She wasn't the small, young girl that they barely noticed. Now they could not help but listen intently to her words.

"It's been a long time," she said her voice heavier and more tired than a teenager should sound. "These past years have been kind to you as well as peaceful. But I'm afraid that might end."

"What do you mean?' Cye asked wanting to know if these peaceful times must be shattered. He didn't like the feeling he had when she spoke. It was like when Sage mentioned his dream.

Her face saddened. "Once again the Earth needs you, Ronin Warriors," she told them forcefully.

At that name, they all stood up. None faster than Rowen, who was finally able to put a name to the girl's face. "Kayura?" he blurted out in amazement.

At the sound of her name, the young girl's warrior presence fell, and she looked like a child about ready to cry. Her voice wavered as she pleaded, "Please help us, Ronin Warriors."

"What is coming?" Sage demanded. "What is it? Tell us everything."

Kayura nodded, her strong composure back. As she sat down, the young men followed, their eyes locked onto her when she began her story. "As you know, after the defeat of Talpa, the Warlords and I went out into the world to do penance for the sins we had committed. The Nether Realm was destroyed once Talpa wasn't around to sustain it, but we did find that all the doors that connected to that dimension were still in existence. Since they no longer connected to the Nether Realm, other worlds latched onto them. We decided to find each one and seal it shut before anyone could wonder into the dimensions, or vice versa.

"There were doors peppered all over Japan, most of them invisible to people. Every once in a while we would find a door that had been breached. Most of these incidents were easily contained since the other dimensions were harmless or uninhabited."

"But there was one door. . ." Sage guessed, letting his words drift away.

"Yes," Kayura nodded solemnly. "There was one door that we didn't get to in time. The door was open from the outside, from the other dimension. The door emitted an enormous dark energy. Luckily, the door was blocked by a shrine, something that the dark energy couldn't move. Even though the door was only opened a crack, it had devastating effects on the people in that area. When we arrived, the plants had been absorbed of all their energy, and the animals had fled, sensing the danger. However, most humans can't sense the dark energy, and they lived among it for a long time. To save the people, we had to close the door. It wasn't easy. Behind the door, there lived creatures of darkness, beasts and monsters that would destroy our world if given the chance. With their combined strength, they were slowly moving the obstacle and opening the door."

Kayura paused to think about what she would say next. It wasn't going to be easy to tell these five warriors the mistake she had made. She wanted so hard to tell them that her mission was successful, and that they would never have to risk their lives for the Earth ever again. How could she ask that of them after she saw their faces when they found out they will have to fight once more.

"To seal the door, we had to remove the shrine. The Warlords held it closed while I performed the sealing spell. But the Warlords had. . .trouble. The door opened wider before I could seal it, and one of the creatures escaped into our world. It was such a small thing that we were sure we could easily contain it. But we were greatly mistaken by the creature's size.

"We learned that the creature was much more intelligent then we suspected, and it could elude and hide from our armors very easily. We've been tracking it for almost a year now, and it poses as a great threat for the people in this city. We must capture this creature and destroy it. We have tried everything. Please, Ronin Warriors, you must help us. The Earth needs you." Kayura's face was strained. She looked tired and worn out, pleading for their strength.

The five warriors let the silence hang in the air, contemplating the situation that was presented to them. The boys were so sober that it was a while before any of them moved.

It was Ryo who stood up. He looked at Kayura with determination, with the look of a warrior. "I'm in," he stated solemnly.

"Yeah, me too," Kento answered right away. He flexed his arm, and grinned savagely. "No way am I going to let someone else fight."

"I'm going," Sage said, his violet eyes narrowed from under his blonde hair.

"Ditto," Rowen added.

The four Ronins turned to the remainder. Cye sat on the couch, his face buried in his hands. _How many times?_ he thought. _How many times must we go fight?_ Cye remembered what it was like during Talpa's war on the Ronins. It nearly took their lives to vanquish the demon. Would this time take one or more of their lives?

Then there was the battle against Nago, a new enemy they weren't prepared to fight. Their armors were created to fight Talpa, not this new embodiment of evil they fought only about a month ago. Cye nearly died then, after experiencing his armor beingripped from his soul. The thought of being forced to separated from Torrent again made him sit up straight after feeling shivers down his spine. He couldn't go through that again. Was he willing to face a new danger that could do who knew what to him, perhaps even take his soul away?

_How many times can I give up my life for others?_

Then a face appeared in his mind, a pale face with bright smile and laughing green eyes that was framed by red hair. Besides Mia and Yulie, she was the only one on Earth that knew that the Ronins had saved the world."Cye? You in?" Kento spoke up.

_Maybe I don't have to give up my life for the world. I can just do it for one person,_ he told himself.

"Always," he answered Kento.

"Yes!" Kento yelled. "The Ronin Warriors are in da house!"

Kayura leapt off of her couch. "Thank you," she cried out. "Thank you so much."

* * *

The car ride was very quiet, yet he could almost hear everyone's minds churning, thinking about the day's activities, and the appearance of Kayura. The words of the bearer of the Ancient's staff couldn't be forgotten, and left an uneasy feeling that made them feel like the dark was closing in on them.

Cye was dropped off first, and once he entered the house he noticed it had a different smell to it. A very pleasant smell that indicated someone was baking. For Cye, it felt strange to walked in the house with the aroma of food in the air, since he had been the unofficial cook of the household.

"Hey Cye," a happy face greeted as it popped out around the corner. "Guess what I did today."

"Hmmm. Lay around on your butt and watched TV?" Cye guessed smiling impishly.

Robyn didn't look amused. "No, I made chocolate chip cookies. Yay!" She shoved a plate of cookies under his nose.

"Wow, you actually cooked something," Cye mocked surprise.

"Ha ha. I was going to let you be my taste tester, but now I changed my mind," Robyn told him, and pulled her plate of cookies away.

"I was kidding. Gez, Robyn, don't have a cow," Cye replied, trying to snatch a baked good from the plate. Despite Robyn's ungraceful dodging, Cye had a height advantage. He just barely escaped a carefully aimed slap with one of the cookies in hand.

Robyn glared at him for his thievery, but then tilted her head with a look of inquiry as she watched him eat. "So do you like it?" she asked expectantly.

"I'm not dead yet," Cye joked, which earned him a back handed smack in the stomach. "Just kidding. They're not bad, but I'd have to give it a B+," Cye told her, his mischievous smile on his face.

Robyn once again held the plate away from him, and went into the kitchen. Cye followed her. He wanted some more cookies.

"So why did you bake cookies today?" Cye asked. "Finally getting some feminine urges?"

"For your information, I baked them for Sage," she answered. "He helped me write my English paper, unlike someone else I know." She picked up one of her cookies, and bit into it. "What's the matter with you? Usually I can't get any kind of retort from you, but now you're giving me sass. You're acting like Rowen."

"Ow!" Cye groaned, clutching his heart. "That hurt." Then he thought about what she had said. _What WAS up with him? _"I guess I just don't feel like myself," he answered the question.

_Or maybe I'm trying to get in all this teasing because tomorrow might be my last._

He was suddenly swept up in the things Kayura said before they had left. His mind wondered through the entire story that Kayura told them. After they had agreed on helping out the young girl, she hadn't given them any new details. She had insisted they go home and get some rest. The suddenness of the situation had left them all numb, and they had agreed with her suggestion quickly. But now that he thought of it, Cye had a lot of questions he wanted answered. What was stopping this creature from coming for them in the night? What was it? Why was it so dangerous? What did it want? He had so many questions that he wished that he didn't leave Kayura so quickly. In fact, many holes in her story were still. . .

"Earth to Cye. Hello."

Cye broke out of his trance to look at Robyn who was waving her hand in front of his face.

"What's the matter with you? First you act like you're hyped on sugar, now you go all spacey on me. Is everything all right?" Robyn asked concerned.

Should he tell her? Since she knows about the Ronin Warriors, does she have a right to know? If he did, would she try, and stop him from fighting?

"Robyn, promise me that you'll stay at home tomorrow," Cye told her seriously.

"Cye?" she inquired raising one eyebrow. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

Cye took her hand. "The guys and I, we . . . we might have to go fight tomorrow."

"Fight? As the Ronin Warriors?" Robyn's face paled. "Why?" her voice quivered.

Cye told her about Kayura's visit, and the demon that was in Toyama. "We all decided, none of us will go home until the creature is gone," Cye told her. "You might not see us for a couple of days."

"A couple of days?!" Robyn shouted. "Why? Can't these Warlords do it? Why do you guys have to fight?"

Cye expected this outburst. He sat back, and waited for Robyn to calm down before he could explain. "It's what we do. We can't escape our destiny," Cye told her. "Robyn, I don't want to fight. I've never wanted to go to war with anyone. I think that's why my armor picked me. When all the war is over, me and Torrent can stay at peace." He waited for another outburst, and locked his eyes onto the counter as if he were interested in the pale yellow surface.

Robyn looked at him in wonderment. She had never heard Cye talk about his armor so much, or about any of the battles he fought. Just thinking about her shy gentle friend having to fight, having to leave his innocence behind, made her heart ache.

Still not looking at his friend, Cye shifted his feet and said, "I don't want you to go downtown. Stay at home all day. You'll be safe here." He looked up to see if she would nod. Instead, he was surprised to see a tear coming down her cheek.

"Why do you worry about me in a time like this?" Robyn asked, brushing the tear away. "Why think of me when so many other people need you?"

Cye rubbed the back of his head, a small smile on his lips. "To be honest, I was really scared about all of this. I didn't think I could put my life on the line for so many people. But then, I thought that I didn't have to risk it for the billions out there. I just had to do it for a few people. I could do it for Kento, Ryo, Sage, Rowen, my mom and sisters, and for you. That thought didn't scare me as much."

Robyn only needed to take a small step to be able to wrap her arms around the young man, feeling his arms hold her. They stood like that for a while, comforting each other. From Cye's shoulder, he heard Robyn say softly, "You forgot yourself in that list. Make sure that you're okay as well."

* * *

Ryo walked around the small dense forest behind his house. He often went there when he had a bad day, or when there was something wrong. It was getting dark, and he couldn't see the ground very well. But he didn't need to. Nearby White Blaze walked, leading Ryo safely on with his night vision.

White Blaze roared in agitation. He knew that something was wrong, and was restless.

"Yeah, I know White Blaze," Ryo comforted the giant cat. "I sense it too." The forest didn't feel the same. It felt darker, and colder. The wind wasn't blowing, and the animals didn't make a sound. The forest could feel the dark energy nearby.

While he wondered the dark foliage, Ryo thought about the words Kayura told them. Like Torrent, he wished that he had stopped to ask questions. He soon became nervous at the thought that he knew nothing about his enemy. He wanted to know more, like where it exactly came from? What kind of weapons did it have? Would ordinary weapons like his swords have any effect on it? Would fire? He wasn't any good at organizing a strategy, and always preferred to act instead of think. But since he was forced to wait, he couldn't help but think about these questions. The thought not having a weapon that could hurt this thing made him more nervous.

He wondered how he would ever get any sleep tonight.

"What is my little worry wart thinking about now?"

Ryo lifted up his head, and found that White Blaze had led him back to the house. On the back porch, his grandmother was rocking gently in her chair. Ryo walked over and sat on the steps nearby her. White Blaze laid down at his feet, putting his large head in Ryo's lap so he could be petted.

"I was just thinking about a problem, Grandma," Ryo answered nonchalantly.

"Oh, a problem," his grandmother echoed. She didn't say anything more, just rocked gently with her hands in her lap.

Ryo knew his grandmother wouldn't push any questions on him, but he felt he needed to say something to her about the coming day. "You see, I have to go do something really hard, and I'm not sure I can do it. It's not that I think I'll fail, but. . .but. . I'm afraid to fail."

"Afraid to fail," Gran repeated with concern. "And what is so important that would make you afraid to fail?"

This was the question that Ryo was afraid would be asked. "Well, it's this job that I have to do. And a lot of people are counting on me to succeed. If I fail, I don't just let myself down but others."

Ryo's grandmother laughed softly. "There you go again, Ryo. You're always thinking that you can carry the earth on your back. Your father was like that, too."

"My father?"

She chuckled again, and then gestured Ryo to come closer. She took his large tanned hand in her wrinkled one, and patted it. "When your father was about your age, he loved to run. He would take each race so seriously as if everything counted on his winning. But if he lost, he thought that he failed." She squeezed the hand gently. "And I'll tell you exactly what I told him. Whatever you do, as long as you put your heart in it and do your best, I will be proud of you. And that is not failure."

Ryo smiled at his grandmother, who just looked up at the stars and rocked away. He stood up and kissed her on the forehead. "Thanks Grandma. That's just what I needed to hear," Ryo told her, and started walking into the house.

"Oh, and Ryo," the old woman called to her grandson. "When you go out tomorrow, take this big pussy cat with you. He's starting to get fat."

White Blaze raised his head at her, and pounded his tail a few times.

Ryo just stared at the back of the rocking chair in surprise. He didn't tell his grandmother that he was leaving tomorrow. He shook his head with a smile, realizing that he couldn't hide anything from the wise old woman. "Okay, Grandma."

* * *

"Kayura said that the creature comes from a world of darkness," Sage spoke into the receiver.

"So?" Rowen's voice said from the phone.

"So, I wonder this has anything to do with the one of the Warlord's armor," Sage finished, pacing in his kitchen. The whole house was completely empty since everyone in his family had plans, which left him enough space to talk as loud as he wanted. Sage wasn't one to talk loudly, but the sudden idea of going back onto the battle field didn't lighten his mood.

"Are you talking about Cale?" Rowen asked.

"Yeah, I am," Sage muttered. "Something about this entire thing gives me a bad feeling. And some of it has to do with Cale."

"Is this because of the dream you had last night?"

Sage ran his fingers through his hair. "Kind of."

"What was it about?"

Sage paused. "Darkness. In my dream, the darkness swallowed up all of the light. But Rowen, it just wasn't the dream, Halo feels it as well. I can feel the darkness coming through my armor. It's reacting with my armor."

"But that doesn't mean it's Cale. As you said, the creature is from darkness, and that's what Halo felt."

"But I wonder what kind of effect does Cale's armor have on it," Sage speculated. "I don't think we can count on Cale during this battle."

"But Cale's reformed," Rowen protested. "All the Warlords are. When Talpa died, that spell thing disappeared from them. For the past couple of years, they've been helping the Earth. That's got to count for something."

"How can we be sure of that?" Sage argued, his voice rising in volume. "All we know is that they disappeared a few years ago, and now they're back with a demon."

"You're making it sound like they did it on purpose," Rowen told him angrily. "Do you think Kayura is lying?"

"No, she's not lying," Sage said, lowering his voice. He sat down in a chair and leaned his head back. "All I know is that my armor is trying to warn me of something. I don't like this, Rowen. I'm. . ." Sage ended his sentence abruptly, as if he didn't want to say what he was going to say.

"Yeah, I know," Rowen said understandingly. "Me too, buddy. But hang on. We'll get through this. If we stick together, we'll get through this. Get some sleep. Bye."

"Bye."

Sage hung up the phone, but he didn't move from his seat. He leaned his elbows against his knees, hanging his head as he thought about his worries and fears. He looked out the window, watching the light from the kitchen beam out of the windows onto the porch. At the very edge of the light was the darkness. It always bothered him how close light and dark can stand next to each other. There are no gradual grey areas that gave the two opposites distance away from the other. But the one thing that made him uneasy was that it was always darkness surrounding light, and never the other way around.

* * *

"Let me get that for you, Ma."

As Kento took the trash from his mom, she put her hand on his forehead. "No, you don't have a fever. Alright, what is it you want?"

"Jeez, Ma. Can't I voluntarily help out without you whiggin' out on me?" Kento complained as he took the trash out.

After he had finished with a few chores, the warrior of strength went to his room. Laying on his bed, he pulled out a notebook and paper. After a while of thinking, this is what he wrote:

_Dear family,_

_This is in case I don't return. I'm sorry, I didn't tell you where I've gone, or how I died. Mia probably told you now if you're reading this. I just want you to know, I died for a good cause. If you all are safe, my life was worth it. I'm sorry that I've hidden a lot of my life from you. I'm sorry that I haven't been the best son. And I'm also sorry for playing ball in the house when I was ten, and knocking down_ _Grandma's statue of Buddha and broke off his head. You can't tell because I glued it back on. _

_Now that I'm done confessing, this will be my last will and testimony. There's not a witness, but I guess it'll be okay. Mom and Dad of a corse will get all the money I saved for college. I know you'll probably split it and put it in everyone else's college funds, but maybe you could also do something fun with it like go to Disneyland or something. All of my videos I want to go to Rinfi, since she's always borrowing them any way. Yunis can have all of my old comics, and my room. He deserves it. Mei Ryn gets my Play Station, and, when he's old enough, my car so he can follow his dream of becoming a professional demolition driver._ _To_ _Chun Fa_ _will get any pictures of Cye and my bean bag. Everything else, you guys can give away or fight over. I won't need it._

_I guess that's it. Please don't mourn over me too much. Just a cheap small funeral will be enough, nothing fancy._

_You're the best family, even though I don't act like you are. Thanks for everything. I love you._

_Kento_

Kento read his letter over again. It sounded okay. He carefully folded it and slid it into an envelope. He would make sure to leave it on his dresser or something. He hoped his family wouldn't have the chance to read it. Hopefully everything would go well, and he would be home in a couple of days. But just in case . . .

Kento ran down the stairs noisily. He jumped down the last steps, making his whole family jump.

"Kento, what did I tell you about jumping down the stairs?" his mother scolded.

Kento went over to her, and hugged her. "Thanks for being such a good mom," he told her while squeezing her. He left her with a kiss on her cheek, and a stunned look on her face.

The next one to be hugged was his father who was sitting in his Laz-E-Boy chair watching TV. "Thanks Dad. You're the greatest."

Leaving his father, Kento then pounced on the middle child, Yunis, who was sitting quietly on the couch reading. "You're such a great little brother, Yunis. I wished I could have been more like you."

Yunis just moved his book out of the way so he could read, and be hugged at once. When Kento left, one eyebrow was higher than the other.

Mei Ryn and Chun Fa were on the floor playing a board game. Chun Fa lifted up her arms, ready for her hug. Mei Ryn tried to move out of the way of Kento's bear grip, but wasn't fast enough. With the two in his clutches, he lifted them off the ground.

"You're the greatest little sister in the world Chun. And Mei, you've been a fun little brother," he told them. Chun Fa hugged him back, so he kissed her on the cheek. Mei on the other hand was struggling to get away from his confinement, afraid that he too will be kissed. Kento obliged the young man's wishes, and dropped him.

At this time, Rinfi came into the room not having any clue about what had been happening. "Hey, has anyone seen my left shoe?"

"Rinfi!" Kento shouted running to her. He grabbed his oldest sister, and twirled her around. "It's so good to see ya. I just want you to know that I love you."

"Get off of me, you freak," Rinfi shouted pushing her older brother away, embarrassed of any type of affection.

Kento was just too happy to care. "I love all of you guys," he said with a big toothy smile.

His family stared back at him in disbelief.

"Now I know there's something wrong with you," his mom said worriedly. "I think maybe you're just stressed about your finals."

"I think he's drunk, ma," Rinfi retorted.

"Ma, I'm not stressed. I just wanted to tell my family that I love them. Is that so wrong?"

Everyone was quiet until Chun Fa replied. "I love you, too."

"Yeah," Kento cheered, lifting Chun Fa to his shoulders. "How about we go get some ice-cream? My treat."

Chun Fa cheered, and Mei Ryn jumped to his feet at those blessed words. As the three of them marched upstairs for Kento's wallet, their mother turned to their father.

"Dear, I'm worried about Kento. This isn't like him," she said.

"Don't worry. It's probably just a phase," Kento's dad replied. "It's happened before, remember? A couple of years ago, he acted just like this."

"That's right. And then everything returned to normal. I remember."

* * *

"All I know is that my armor is trying to warn me of something. I don't like this, Rowen. I'm. . ."

Rowen smiled as he held the phone to his mouth. He knew that tone that Sage was using. Sage used it whenever he wanted to admit something he didn't want anyone else to know. Rowen had only heard that tone a few times from Sage, especially during the time they were fighting Talpa. Sage was afraid. "Yeah, I know," Rowen said understandingly. "Me too, buddy. But hang on. We'll get through this. If we stick together, we'll get through this. Get some sleep. Bye."

"Bye."

Rowen set down the cordless phone on his desk. He didn't realize how much afraid he was until he was alone. He had been talking to Sage since he arrived home, but this was the first moment he was completely by himself. Trying to keep his mind off of his fear, Rowen took out his science book to study for his finals that would start in a week. But no matter how much he read he couldn't concentrate with the butterflies flying in his stomach. He hated waiting for something.

While staring at his book, his imagination started running away with him. He could see all of his friends in their armors, fighting what he thought would be a gigantic mass of blackness with glowing red eyes and a gaping mouth that sucked everything in it. He could see the armors fighting it the best way they could, maybe even summoning the white armor of inferno to defeat it. Then images entered into his mind that made him shiver. Bodies, dead and broken on the ground. Blood pooling around the bodies of his friends while their eyes still wide open. Rowen shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the morbid thoughts that wouldn't go away.

"That's not going to happen," Rowen told himself, trying to think of positive things. "We'll all be okay. Nothings going to happen." Rowen settled his mind down before he turned to his science book. But as he did, once again unbidden images once again filled his thoughts. But this time, there was only one body. It wasn't clad in any armor. But just like the Bearers of the ancient armor, haunting green eyes stared at him, pale skin was flecked with red blood blending with the thin red hair.

"NO!" he yelled, sitting up straight. The air started to feel colder around him. He looked around to see the source, and realized he was sitting underneath the air vent. He felt a little relieved that it wasn't his imagination that made him colder, and moved onto the bed.

As he tried to study for the third time, loneliness wouldn't let him stay in peace. His mom was away on another business trip, so the house was empty except for him. Not being about to bear the thought of having the frightening pictures enter his mind again, he picked the phone up and dialed. He knew the number by memory, but hardly ever called before Robyn moved to Japan.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Robyn. How's it goin'?"

"Rowen, hey. Fine, I guess." Her voice sounded unsteady.

"Did Cye tell you . . . "

"Yeah. I'm just a little shaky, that's all. It's kind of a shock."

"I know what you mean," Rowen told her. His voice was firm, but his hand was trembling._ Is it because of tomorrow, or who I'm talking to?_ Rowen thought to himself.

"So, why aren't you with your family?" Robyn asked, keeping her voice under control. She had a big lump in her throat that she wouldn't let go.

"Mom's out of town. It's just me," Rowen explained.

There was a pause. "Are you going to be okay by yourself?" the young woman asked.

"Yeah. It's no big deal."

"I just don't want you to be alone on a day like this."

"Hey, if you're worried about me, you could always come and sleep over," Rowen told her with his usual bravado. He hoped his bantering would lighten her mood. Rowen paused, but no sound came through the phone. He wondered if she was now mad at him. But then he heard a sound that made him feel even worse. She was crying.

"Robyn. . .I . . . "

"Sorry. I'm sorry," she quickly said through soft sobs. "It's not you. I'm just a little. . . "

"It's alright. It's going to be okay," he told her softly.

"No, it's not okay," she half yelled. "We're just regular kids in high school. You shouldn't have to go to war. You shouldn't have to risk your lives."

Rowen heard her cry some more. Right then, he would have done anything to be standing with her, holding her in his arms. He wished he could have let her cry into his shoulder, and comfort her. "Robyn, I know you're scared right now, but we swore we'd protect the city."

"I just don't see why you have to go," Robyn muttered.

"We don't have to, we want to go," Rowen told her. "We want to go so we can protect those we love, Robyn. That's why anyone would go to war. If we didn't want to go, our armors wouldn't force us. I think that's why they chose us, because we would want to protect."

Robyn paused, contemplating what Rowen said. "I feel a little selfish. All I can think of is what I would do if something happened to one of you."

"That's not selfish," Rowen told her. "That's how we feel about each other. And that's why we need to fight together, so that we don't lose anyone. We promised to protect the innocent. It's our destiny."

"But why take the risks?" Robyn asked. "Can't these Warlord guys take care of it? You've all done so much, why do so much more for people who will never know what you've done?"

"You know. That's enough for me," Rowen told her. "I want to protect the people I care about. I want to be able to protect you." Before Rowen could rethink his words, they had already flown out of his mouth and into the receiver. Realizing what he had said, Rowen quickly added, "We all do," trying not to sound obvious.

"You sound a lot like Cye. That just makes me feel more selfish," Robyn replied.

"If you're selfish now, I can't wait to see you when one of us gets married," Rowen tried to joke. "You'll probably chase away any girls we date, the way you hang all over us."

Robyn laughed softly. "Except for you. I'm gonna have to pay a girl to go out with you," Robyn jested back.

Rowen smiled. "There. Feel better?"

"Yeah, a little. Thank you, for being there."

"Don't worry about. Well, I gotta go. It's getting late, and I need some sleep."

"Yeah, see ya later."

"Bye."

"Hey, Robyn?"

"Yeah, what is it?"

For a second, Rowen's heart starting beating a little faster as he thought of words he wanted to say, that he'd been longing to say for a long time. But his throat tightened, and his voice box wouldn't let any air through it. His grip on the phone tightened as his lips tried to form the sounds.

"I. . .I. . .Don't worry. We'll be okay. Take care."

"Yeah, you too. Bye"

"Bye"

Rowen slowly put the receiver down. He could feel the silence coming around him once again. Without something to occupy his mind, the images started haunting him once again. It only took him a moment to pick up the phone, and call Sage. He didn't feel like being alone tonight.

* * *

High above Toyama, a dark hill guarded the small city as the Ronins prepared to go to war. On that dark hill, sat three dark shadows. They sat, watching the city, looking for the darkness within darkness. It was there, and it was waiting for a chance to escape.

The Warlords wouldn't let it leave. They worked so hard to hunt down the creature. This was their only chance to finish it off. There was no way they would fail.

Sekhmet and Dais sat near each other, muttering about things. They would talk about strategies, about how to catch this creature. But they also talked about their life before Talpa, who they were before their armors. They would tell each other about their families, dead now, and about their old lives. They would also tell each other about plans for the future, what they would do after this creature was banished.

Cale never joined them in their conversation. He never would speak of his past, or anything else about him. He just sat there starring out into the night, searching for something that he had lost, and something he would gain. He could see the Ronins, each in their cozie little homes with their families. He could see them, doing their best to put on smiles for their loved ones, and make them think everything was fine. He didn't have anyone to smile for. It was only him, and the dark. As the darkness starred back, and whispered things to him, he reached into his shirt, and pulled out a necklace. He subconsciously fingered it, starring into the night.


	3. Chapter 2:A Hunt for Darkness

Changes in Destiny

Chapter 2: A Hunt for Darkness

By Hatashi Kitty

The morning mist law low over the still sleeping city of Toyama. The mist blocked out the sun as it started to rise up into the sky, casting gloom and preventing the morning to break. With in the half-darkness was four figures gathered at the Mouri house. One paced back and forth anxiously while the patient others waited.

"C'mon. Where is our fearless leader? You'd think he would be on time, for once," Kento muttered while concentrating on his intense pacing.

"Easy," Cye told him calmly. "You shouldn't get riled up, Kento. You need to conserved your energy."

"I can't help it. All this waiting is getting to me," Kento half-yelled, clenching his fists. "I'd rather be fighting right now than sitting here."

"We know, Kento. We don't want to be delay," Sage declared to him. "But it can't be helped. We can't leave without Ryo." Sage also felt very uneasy, but not because of their leader's tardiness. The strange mist was too thick for this time of year, and it blocked out his element.

Kento finally sat down on Cye's porch with a huff. "Stupid Ryo," he muttered.

It was only a few seconds after Kento's complaints that they heard a loud roar. Racing down the sidewalks was their black and white tiger companion. Riding on his back was the young man they were waiting for, raven like hair dancing in the wind.

"Hey, sorry I'm late guys," Ryo said while getting off White Blaze and rubbing his neck. "The power went off at home. White Blaze had to wake me up."

The large tiger roared, and licked his master's hand.

"Great. Let's get goin'," Kento said boisterously, slapping Ryo in the back. "I'm ready to take this demon down."

"Okay Ronins. Armor up," Ryo commanded, taking out his armor orb.

Each of the warriors took out their orbs, and summoned up their subarmors. As they were about to bound off to the city for their fight, the door of the Mouri house opened up. A red haired girl raced out to them. Dressed in a pair of sweats too large for her, hair in a messy braid, and nothing on her feet, Robyn raced to them.

"Robyn, what are you doing up so early?" Cye asked. "You don't have any socks on, aren't you cold?"

"But you were going to leave without letting me know," Robyn protested, trying not to let the others see her shiver. "You know I wanted to see everyone before you left." Smiling she held out her hands, and presented a bunch of colorful beaded bracelets to them. "I made these for you, kind of like a good luck charm."

The guys looked at them with eyebrows up. Robyn didn't wait for them, and started handing out a bracelet for each of them. They soon saw that each bracelet only held the color of their respected armor.

Sage held his dark green one up, and frowned at it. The beads were wooden, and by the looks of it were freshly painted with black Kanji characters written with a thin marker.

"Sweet, you wrote on the beads," Kento noticed, and started to look at the writing.

"Yeah, I was practicing my Kanji last night, and tried out some new characters I didn't know," Robyn told them. "I tried to use words that pertain to you."

Cye looked at his. The first character that popped out at him was "trust". She must have put their respected value on each one. The others were words like "torrent, ocean, and fish". He laughed as he read the rest of the words that were related to the sea.

"Virtue, Fire, Flames, Pyro . . . This is how you sum me up?" Ryo asked, playfully putting on his fiery red beads.

"Also notice that White Blazes' name is on there," Robyn added. She stooped down to rubbed the mention's head. "I wouldn't forget my favorite, huh big boy."

As Robyn's attention was distracted, Kento read his out loud as well. "Justice, Hardrock, Noodle, Beef, Sukiyaki, Yakisoba . . . Hey, there's just food on here," Kento protested, but then laughed. "This is totally the best good luck charm I've ever got." He pulled Robyn off of the ground, and gave her a big bear hug.

As Robyn was passed around the group for hugs, Sage read his beads. Besides Halo and Wisdom, there was "cage, rage, gauge, page, stage, and wage." He smiled slightly, hiding his beads so that no one will see them.

"Sorry, I couldn't think of any words that sum you up," Robyn told him with a grin. "I could only think of words that rhyme with Sage." She stood on her tiptoes to give him a hug.

Through Robyn's good-byes, Rowen stood a little away from the others. Like Sage, he silently read his dark blue beads. Of corse there was "Strata and life" and some words that had to do with the stars and sky. But the one that he noticed the most was the Kanji "Protect". It reminded his of the phone conversation he had with Robyn the night before.

"Hey, Rowen," Robyn called him out of his thoughts. "You okay? You've been really quiet."

"Yeah, Rowen. Why are you off by yourself?" Ryo asked as he stood beside Robyn.

"Just thinking about what Robyn wrote about me," Rowen told them with a smile.

"I bet 'pervert' is one," Kento jested laughingly.

"No," Rowen protested with indignation. Then he leered sneakily. "She wrote me some very loving words, like Honey and smooch."

"Hey, let me see," Kento exclaimed in unbelief, reaching out for the dark blue beads. When Rowen lifted them up too high for Kento to grasp, the warrior of Hardrock engaged Strata in a wrestling match.

As the two squabbled over the beads, Ryo observed that Robyn wore a bracelet of her own, and pointed it out. "Yeah, I made one for me too," Robyn told him. "See, I wrote your names on the beads. It's my good luck charm." She displayed it for them to see as if it were made of gold or diamonds, yet it held more value to her than any sort of jewels. "I won't take it off until you guys come home safe to me," she said smiling at them.

Cye grabbed her hand that held the beads and smiled too. "I won't take mine off either."

"Me neither," Kento and Ryo said together smiling broadly.

Sage just nodded.

"I'm never taking it mine off. Ever! Even when I'm shower. . ." Rowen shouted from under Kento who was sitting on him. The latter Ronin interrupted by pushing the former's head into the grass so he couldn't talk any more.

"Come on, Ronins," Sage called for order. "We need to get going. We'll be late to meet the Warlords." Sage was always to punctual one.

"Wait, I haven't gotten a hug from Rowen," Robyn protested. "I don't want to miss one of you."

At those words, Rowen lifted up his head, his eyes sparkling and a large smile on his face. "Coming," he shouted and picked up the large Kento in the air, and tossed him aside. "Yay, hug," he shouted holding out his arms.

Robyn blinked in surprise that skinny "stickboy" Rowen could lift the massive Kento, but then she remembered he had his subarmor on. As Rowen walked up to her with his arms wide open, she obliged in giving him his promised embrace.

Rowen couldn't help, but hold onto the young girl tightly. Despite his joking around, he was shaking on the inside. He was nervous and tired. All the night before, he had seen more nightmares than in his entire life. His unconscious mind was plagued with images of his friends lying in pools of dark red blood.

After a while, Robyn pushed away from him. Her face was a bit grim. Rowen smiled, and tried to cheer her up. "It's okay. We're Ronin Warriors, our duty is to protect, remember?" He showed her the bracelet on his wrist.

"I know," Robyn whispered. "But don't forget to protect yourselves," she told them all.

At that moment, Rowen wanted to talk to her. Most of their conversations was just light bantering, and teasing each other, but now he wanted to really talk to her. He wished he could have last night, since that was why he called. But just like on the phone, his throat froze up, and he couldn't think of the exact words to use. Instead he backed away from her, and joined his fellow warriors.

Robyn stared at them in wonder, seeing for a moment warriors that were the young men she knew. These men in the same armors were years older, veterans of war.

Ryo knelt down beside his animal companion, petting the large tiger on the head. "White Blaze, I want you to do a favor for me. Stay here and take care of Robyn," he told the cat in a serious tone.

"But I. . ." Robyn tried to protest, wanting to tell them they needed it more. But she saw the worry in all of their eyes. She let the white tiger sit next to her, and watched them in silence.

"Ronins, lets go," Ryo signaled. Leading the way, Ryo ran down the street much faster than humanly possible. The others followed, their armors giving them unusual strength and speed which made them disappear more quickly in the mist surrounding the Mouri house.

Robyn stayed where she was, watching as the last Ronin disappear into the thick fog. She waited, sadly starring into nothing. Something troubled her ever since Rowen stopped holding her. She shivered, and it wasn't because she was cold. She recalled Rowen's face, hollow, yet calm. A feeling in the air told her something terrible was going to happen to Rowen, and strangely she couldn't help but feel it was her fault.

* * *

The fog clung thickly to the city, as if it was a living creature holding onto it to save it own life, and in the process not caring that the city was suffocating in the partial darkness. It was so thick, the Ronins had a hard time following each other, and often would loose sight of each other. They also had a hard time finding the small park, which was to be their meeting place with Kayura and the Warlords. They almost missed the four, which was surprising since they were in full armor. Kento thought they looked a little ridiculous standing next to the playground equipment, like they were going off to war. Good thing it was early in the morning, and the playground was empty. Kayura was the only one to met them with a smile on her face, the Ancient's staff in her hands. Her companions, frowned and looked away as the teens came forward.

"Thank you for coming, Ronins," Kayura greeted them, the rings of the staff clinking together as she walked. "We don't have much time to explain. We need to get rid of if this fog as quickly as possible."

"So, this fog is the demon's doing?" Sage asked, thinking of his earlier nervousness with the fog.

"The demon is a creature of darkness," Sekhmet told them, his snake eyes narrowing. "It's trying to block out all light so it can come out."

"You can feel it, right Halo?" Cale asked the Bearer of Light, the tone of his voice was almost mocking the younger man. "You can feel it trying to get rid of your element. Your armor feels very threatened, doesn't it?"

Sage sent a piercing glare at his old rival, hating the fact that Cale could read his element so clearly.

"The fog is getting thicker, we don't have much more time," Dais told them all as he slowly shifted his weight from one leg to the other in anxiety.

"Please, follow us, Ronins," Kayura requested, and then disappeared into the fog with the

Warlords.

Without a word, the other Ronins pursued after the other armors, barely able to see them in the blanket of mist. They followed them through the park, and then up onto the sides of buildings. Just like the day they all first met, Ronins and Warlords ran across the sides of buildings, leaving gigantic holes where metal feet stepped. Most of the Ronins' thoughts were on their destination, and what actions will be taken once there; though Kento was the only one who thought about who's job it was to repair the damage they did to the buildings.

It was the top of the tallest building where the Warlords finally stopped, waiting for their younger associates to catch up, who weren't far behind.

"Halo, Strata," Kayura named them by their armor, "you are the only ones that can clear the fog."

After Kayura gave them some instructions, the two friends summoned their entire armors, and stood at the edge of the building looking out at the unseen city. Rowen made the first move, putting an arrow into position into his bow.

"Arrow Shock Wave," he shouted, letting his magical projectile fly.

"Thunder Bold Cut," Sage shouted, swinging his no-dachi in the same direction as Rowen's arrow. The two attacks merged light and wind together. The lightening flashed all around the dark fog, letting in the sun's light, while the air carried away the rest of the fog. The two Ronins repeated the attack for each direction, finally clearing the sky so everyone could see the sun rising.

The Ronins all sighed with relief at the sight of the sun, especially Sage who felt like a bird underwater with the fog. Even Kayura and the Warlords were at ease, looking up the beaming life giver, all of them except Cale. The Bearer of Darkness had his back to the sun, his helmet keeping his face hidden in darkness. Those who could see his face could see he was not happy.

"Now what?" Rowen asked, ready for battle.

"Now we wait for night to come," Sekhmet told them. "We should armor down. It's getting hot." As he said so, he, Dais and Kayura released their armors and appeared in civilian's clothing.

"Huh?" Kento shouted almost disappointed. "But we're ready to fight now."

"I thought the reason we got rid of the fog was to find the creature," Ryo speculated putting his hands on his hips.

"No, we dispersed the fog so the creature couldn't attack anyone," Dias explained. "We'll never find the demon during the day, and it's better for us to wait until dark so that no civilians get hurt."

Ryo released his subarmor. "Since we have a few hours, what are we expected to do?"

As the other Ronins released their armors as well, Sage stepped forward. "The first thing we need to do is talk. The other night, there were a lot of things that Kayura didn't go into detail and I have a lot of questions as well."

"Me too," Cye agreed. "We need to know everything about this creature before we go into battle."

"Great," Kento butted it. "I know this great place we can go get breakfast. I'm starving."

Kento led the way to the door on the roof that would let them down onto the street.

As the other's followed, Dais turned to his old companion. "Cale, aren't you going to armor down?"

Cale glanced back at the bright sun that beamed down on him. Reluctantly and without a word, he did. As soon as the armor disappeared, he rushed past the white haired man inside. His hand was clutching his chest where his heart was, sweat starting to pour down his face.

"Is everything okay?" Dais asked, putting a hand on the darker man.

Cale turned to give him a grim smile. "Sorry, but it seems my element still influences me while out of the armor."

Dais' face turned down at his companion's reply, but nodded in understanding. The two started down the stairwell.

Sage was one of the last through the door, and had secretly heard the conversation and seen Cale's reaction to the sunlight. He narrowed his eyes, and followed quietly.

* * *

"I'll have the Pancake Platter with a side of toast and a large orange juice," Kento told the waitress happily, handing back the menu.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" the waitress asked, looking at the blonde in the booth like she'd wanted to order a side of him.

"Yeah, I want the Homestyle skillet," Ryo said, trying to get the attention of the waitress, but her mind was elsewhere.

The waitress wrote the rest of their orders down, taking her time while she used her eyes to flirt with the blonde that tried to hide his face behind his hair. Once she left, he looked up, his countenance showing his irritation while his friends snickered.

Because the booth wasn't big enough for all of them, only Cye and Sage were able to sit on one side of it while Kento, Rowen and Ryo pulled up chairs so they could be at the same table. They were very crowded, but at least they were in a spot that nobody would bother them.

"So," Sage cleared his throat. "Where should we begin?"

"Didn't Kayura give you a layout of what's happening?" Sekhmet mumbled sleepily, his chin resting on his chin. He didn't look as if he wanted to explain anything.

"Please forgive Sekhmet and our appearance, but we don't get much sleep," Dais explained to them, rubbing a hand through messy white hair. "The creature doesn't give us much time to rest at night since it's on the move whenever it can."

When they were in armor, the Ronins didn't notice the fatigue on the older men's faces, but now in the restaurant it was evident. The Warlords looked as if they would fall asleep in the lumpy cusions they were resting on, dark bags of skin hanging from their sleep deprived eyes. As Dais talked, his voice would get lower at the end of his sentences as if he were drifting off to sleep. He finally had to mimic Sekhmet and put his face into his hands so that he could look at the others. Sekhmet had abandoned trying to look awake, and started to lean toward Cale as if he were going to sleep. Cale didn't seem to mind the other warrior touching him. He had his own chin almost touching his chest, his dark eyes threatening to close. But even with their sorry positions, they were quite away of what was going on. Sitting on his other side was Kayura, looking quite the opposite. Even though she too had circles under her eyes, she was smiling as if nothing was wrong, happy as pie that she was sitting with both the Warlords and the Ronins.

"So last night, you made sure it didn't leave Toyama, right?" Cye asked.

"Kind of," Dias answered sleepily. "We set up a net around a certain area so that it can't escape. I'm sure you had a hard night, not knowing this. Kayura should have told you, you were all safe last night." He looked over at Kayura, who grinned sheepishly.

"Kayura sometimes leaves out important information," Cale told them while lifting his head. He reached over Sekhmet to nudge the young woman, disturbing Sekhmet in the process, who sat up for the conversation. "Sometimes we forget how young she is, but we thought she would be the best person to talk to all of you considering our history together."

The Ronins nodded in either understanding or in surprise at the casualness of the situation. Cale continued to poke Kayura, until she pushed away his hand to insult him. She continued to glare at him until Sekhmet grabbed her head to give her a noogie. All the Warlords came alive in the teasing of the younger Kayura, who was so offended that she was being treated like some child in public. The strangeness continued until Rowen interrupted with a question, causing the Warlords to go back into their previous lethargic state, more out of boredom than tiredness.

"Where is the creature now? In which area is the demon in?" Rowen asked.

"We're in it now," Sekhmet told them, his eyes widening and not looking as tired. "The creature won't do anything since the fog is gone, so we're safe. But the net covers a couple of miles of the city, most of it away from the houses nearby."

Even though the thought of a net set Cye at more of a ease, but the thought of the demon being so close to his house made him nervous. It was only a twenty minute drive from where they were now to his neighborhood. "Why Toyama?" Cye asked them, still a little nervous. "Is it here for our armors? Can they sense them?"

"Yes, it can sense some of the armors. But not all of them," Dais answered the Bearer Torrent. "But it isn't after the armors. It feeds off of darkness and hatred, the armors don't offer either."

"Most armors," Sage muttered, casting a suspicious look at Cale.

"What are you saying?" Cale growled, his face darkening.

"You tell us. Your armor's domain is the darkness," Sage accused venomly. "You must have some sort of connection to this thing."

Cale stood up, hitting the table with a fist. "Don't you dare compare my armor to that abomination. I would never connect myself to such evil."

Sage jumped to his feet as well. "You associated with Talpa, and you have lived in darkness for years. How do we know you really have changed?"

"Halo, Cale, this is not the time," Kayura pleaded, grabbing Cale's arm. "The past has been behind us for years. Let it go."

Sage glanced around the restaurant. It was nearly empty since it was still early, but the few customers were staring at them. Sage sat down, and folded his arms. It was only then that Cale did the same, but he never took his dark eyes off of Halo.

The same waitress that had lingered at their booth for so long came with their food, but quickly left gladly to escape the heavy atmosphere.

Rowen, ever the curious one, continued the broken conversation. "So the creature looks for dark hearts. Does that mean Toyama has an excess of them?"

"No," Kayura sighed heavily. "This is hard to explain, since we still don't know everything about this thing. The creature feeds in two ways. First the creature can eat flesh for energy, but for it to grow stronger it must feed off of the hearts of ordinary humans. The heart has to have some sort of hatred in it. The creature uses that hatred, and enhances it and turns it into darkness. The darkness consumes the person's heart, continually feeding the creature. Soon, the person's heart is entirely made of darkness, and that's when the creature starts eating the soul and using the body as a puppet. This can take some time, and once the soul is gone, the creature can live in the body until the person dies."

"How do you know this?" Kento asked in between bites of syrupy pancake. "You didn't actually test it, did you?"

Dais snorted, and shook his head. "As blunt as ever, Hardrock. Unfortunately, we weren't able to keep track of it all the time. Several times, we lost it only to find someone taken over by hatred."

Kayura's head lowered a little. "We couldn't save them, their soul was gone. There were only dolls for the creature to live in."

"But why would this. . .thing want a human body?" Rowen asked, his voice filled with contempt for such a horrible creature.

"The stronger the soul, the stronger the creature can get," Cale said in a stoic voice. "Same with the body, if it's stronger so is the creature."

"If it gets one of us," Cye began, "then, can it control our armor."

"We don't know," Sehkmet said, a grim smile on his face. "But we think it's here for something else. There are some people out there whose hearts are already filled with darkness without the creature. We think that in Toyama there is someone with an extensive amount of darkness already embedded in their heart. If that is possible, the creature wouldn't need the extra to prepare the soul, but could eat it right away and control the body in a matter of minutes."

"And with that much power, the creature would be invincible," Dais continued, sipping his coffee. "It could then cover the entire world with darkness as it tried with Toyama. Then we would be the ones being hunted down."

"Tell me, Halo," Cale mumbled, smiling grimly. "Have you come across someone with a completely darkened heart? You would be the one who would know if there was."

"Not as much as you, since you can relate," Sage shot back, not making any eye contact with the Warlord.

"Hey you two, chill," Kento yelled at them over his eggs.

"Yeah, the war with Talpa is over," Ryo added. "We're on the same team, so we need to start acting like it."

Unlike the stoic young man he usually is, Sage defended himself childishly. "Well, he started it."

"I di. . . " Cale tried to argue, but his fellow Warlords clamped rough hands over his mouth, and smiled sheepishly.

"We're all a little cranky from staying up all night," Sekhmet told the Ronins, struggling to keep Cale in his seat. "Perhaps if we had a little sleep, we'd be more amiable."

"If you would permit us to rest at one of your homes, we'd be most gracious," Dais added, conking Cale over the head in which he quieted down.

"Rowen's mom aren't home, you can crash there," Kento volunteered.

"What?" Rowen exclaimed through a mouthful of his breakfast.

"Yeah, Rowen's house is always quiet. Perfect for napping," Cye added, enjoying Strata's situation.

"You can't volunteer me," Rowen yelled at them.

Ryo stood up happily, ignoring Rowen's protests. "Rowen has room enough. Let's go."

The group paid for their food and left, most of them happy save two that lagged behind not sharing the other's feeling: Rowen angry that his peaceful and clean house would soon be invaded by this group and Cale who rubbed his head as if he had a headache, a dark cloud hovering over his thoughts.

* * *

"This line represents the perimeter in which we set up our force field to keep the creature in," Kayura explain, showing them a large map of Toyama that she had marked. A blue squiggly circle outlined most of the city. "We tried making it as small as we could, but the creature kept trying to escape."

Sage studied the map carefully. "What are the red dots for?" he asked, observing a series of random marks.

"These are areas where we have seen the creature. Most of the time, it was attacking humans," Kayura continued. "Although sometimes, it was trying to break through the force field we made."

Rowen traced a group of the red dots with his finger. "It seems the creature prefers this area."

"Hey, that's close to mine and Cye's house," Kento noticed pointing to the suburb that the two of them shared.

"Don't worry about your families. The creature can't escape," Kayura reassured them.

"And look," Ryo pointed at the middle of the red dots. "This is where we go to school. Do you think that has to do with why the creature is here?'"

"It could be because the person it's looking for goes there," Cye speculated. "It could be a class mate or a teacher."

"That's quite possible," Kayura thought out loud. "The creature could sense the person had been present at your school."

"And since it's the weekend, nobody's been there for a while," Rowen added.

"That means we have to stop it tonight," Sage said with determination. "Tomorrow's a school day, and we can't stop everyone from going to school."

"How can we stop it?" Ryo had been waiting since that morning to get out these questions. "Will our attacks and weapons defeat it?"

"Of course," Kayura told them. "In fact, yours as well as Halo's should have a stronger effect on the demon. Light weakens it."

Ryo smiled at this, a smile of a warrior who has found an advantage over his opponent.

"So, what is the plan for tonight?" Kento said loudly. "How will we find this thing?"

Before anyone else could say anything, a fat green pillow flew past Cye's head, and smashed into Kento's face, and then fell onto the map.

"Quiet, we're trying to sleep," a deep sleepy voice shouted raspily. Sekhmet glared at them from his couch, his eyes red and puffy. Dais was snoring softly on the floor nearby, hugging his pillow with a deadly grip. Since the group arrived at Rowen's house, the two of them had collapsed there, and hadn't moved for hours. Cale was the only one who stayed awake long enough to be directed to a real bed, which Rowen reluctantly gave. Kayura was the only one who declined sleep, saying that she would sleep later after briefing the Ronins.

After promising that they would be quieter, the Ronins and Kayura continued their discussion.

"Before we make plans on how to get this thing, I think you should tell us more about it," Ryo suggested to Kayura.

Kayura made a face as if she didn't know what to say. "What else is there to tell? I think I told you everything about it yesterday. We don't know that much about it."

"What about where it came from?" Cye inquired. "You must know something about it's world."

Kayura shook her head sadly. "It's not much of a world. There was no sun, just darkness. At one time, there could have been light and people, but anything there would have been destroyed by the creatures that inhabit it now. When we took a look at their world, we could see creatures devouring each other, because there is nothing else to eat. They all looked so hungry and desperate."

"You said that a shrine was blocking the door to the world. Where was the shrine," Rowen asked.

"Somewhere in China. We could have destroyed it there since it couldn't swim, but it found a way on a boat, hiding in the heart of a sailor. We nearly lost track of it then, but once back on land we could find traces of it's destruction."

"Destruction?" Sage asked suspiciously.

Kayura eyes saddened. "The creature would try to possess many people, but once we found it, it would have to remove itself from the person. This removal from their hearts could be a very big shock on the person, and would make them go insane or kill them. But sometimes, the creature would start eating them. . . from the inside."

Stillness filled the room, so heavy and stifling that even Dias' snores fell silent. Each Ronin felt the steel determination to do everything to make sure this demon that invaded their city wouldn't hurt another person, and also the tight fear that they might fail to do so.

"What do we have to do?" Ryo asked tearing away everyone's silent spell. "What do we do?"

"We will rely on Cale's and Strata's armors to give us direction to where the creature is. Halo, your armor will also be of some help.

"Why mine?" Rowen asked, curious since his armor was nether darkness or light.

"The sky is divided into two parts, day and night, as you well know. You're armor can sense both these elements by determining which dominates the sky more. The creature will fill the air around it with more concentrated darkness, which we hope you can sense. We'll split up into three teams, and search. We all must be in contact of each other when the creature comes out."

"What if it doesn't?" Cye asked worriedly.

"It has to," Kayura declared. "We've been starving it too long. It needs to feed tonight."

* * *

The small house watched the sun going down in the west. Ever since the briefing, a calm silence had settled around it, like the sky before a storm. Kayura had gone to sleep, but the Ronins did not. Even though they didn't sleep well the night before, they couldn't sleep now. They found things to occupy their minds while they waited for the day to wan by. Only when the sky started turning bright oranges and reds did they congregate onto the backyard where they anxiously waited, knowing once the sun went down they would be in a war zone.

It was Kento who broke the silence as he is often prone to do. "It'll be dark soon. Do you think we should wake them up?"

"Let them sleep a little longer," Ryo told them, leaning against Rowen's fence as he watched the blazing sun. "They looked so exhausted. Everyone needs to be at the top of their game tonight."

"How far can we trust them, though?" Sage asked contemptuously. "Last time we saw them, they were our enemies."

"They seem okay. They're just like Anubis now," Ryo replied. "They've really changed. I think that we can trust them."

"There is a change," Sage agreed disdainfully. "Among Sekhmet and Dais, but it's Cale whom I'm worried about."

"Cale? Why?"

"There's something not right about him. His armor still influences him too much," Sage said. Then he described what he saw when Cale took his armor off. "But it's not just that. His aura is different than anyone else's."

"That's just because of your armors," Rowen told him, patting his friend's back. "You two are the only ones that have exact opposite armors. But just because his element is darkness, doesn't make him evil."

Sage looked at the sun regretfully, sad that the greatest source of light would be leaving him to the darkness. "It's not because we're opposites. He has a lot of hate inside him. I don't know if it's because of me or the armor. But it just worries me that he has hate inside him."

"Because of what Kayura said," Cye guessed where Sage was going. "He could be what the creature is waiting for to give it enough power."

Sage nodded at Cye's statement.

Ryo lowered his head in thought, then looked up at the Bearer of Halo. "You may have a point there, Sage. Don't worry about it, I'll do something about it. In the mean time, maybe you should try to stay out of his way."

"Fine with me," Sage told him. "Just make sure he does the same."

"Let's go wake everyone," Ryo half-commanded with a sigh. "It's almost dark."

Wildfire, Torrent and Hardrock went inside, and Halo was about to do the same when he noticed the last of the five made no indication he was going to do the same thing. Strata stood with his hands in his jean pockets.

"Rowen, are you coming?" Sage asked.

"Naw, I think I'll wait until the stars come out," Rowen said, waiting for the last sliver of the sun to sink down.

Sage looked at his friend, and asked, "What do you think of Cale? Am I just imagining it?"

Rowen shook his head and turned to Sage. "Everyone noticed how he behaved this morning toward you. There is something strange about him, but at the same time he feels. . . familiar. Like a relative you've only met a few times coming to visit."

Sage raised an eyebrow at this revelation.

"Yeah, I know it sounds weird," Rowen told his friend. "Just forget what I said."

Sage smiled, thinking that Rowen was always weird, and that he would never get used to it. "Enjoy your star gazing." Then he went into the house just as the last of the sunlight hid behind the horizon.

Rowen smiled up at the heavens, waiting for the first tiny specks of light to appear as he knew they would. Near the horizon, the evening star appeared where the sun was just minutes ago. "Star light, star bright," he recited it. His hand fingered the dark blue beads that were latched onto his wrist.

"First star I see tonight," a shadow behind him muttered.

When he heard the dark voice, Rowen quickly turned out of reflex, and positioned his body ready for combat. When he saw the Warlord of Darkness standing in the doorway, he relaxed, but wasn't sure what he should say.

"Actually, it's not a star," Rowen mumbled somewhat lamely, turning around edgily. "It's a planet. Venus. It's sometimes called the evening and morning star."

"Stars, planets. What's the difference?" Cale spat out. He strolled out into the yard with his hands in his jacket pockets, staring menacingly at the sky. "They're all the same. Balls of light that do nothing, but sit there uselessly."

"Maybe to you," Rowen shot defensively. "Without the stars, we wouldn't know North from South. We wouldn't have calendars, maps, telescopes. If there weren't any stars, men wouldn't have dreamed about traveling beyond the Earth, and we wouldn't have rocket ships, satellites, or any of our astrological science. It's like they inspire man to dream. Some people even believe that stars can predict the future." Rowen caught himself up in what he was saying, not thinking about who he was talking to, until he heard laughter.

"Dreams? Future?" Cale laughed with mocking smirk. He starred at Rowen with penetrating eyes. "You sound like an idiot, boy. Dreams are for those who can't face reality. And as for a future, it's never what anyone thinks it will be. I'll tell you what dreams are made of. Nothing. Beyond the so called future, there is nothing. There is nothing but darkness. That is where I am."

"Maybe it's because you don't have any dreams, and you think you don't have a future," Rowen muttered, heat rising from his collar from Cale's speech.

Cale smiled grimly. "You're right. I lost my dreams a long time ago. And when they were gone, I didn't care about my future. I only had darkness."

Rowen looked at the Warlord curiously, wondering where this came from. "Is that why you were a Warlord?"

Cale shrugged, the grim smile still on his lips. "Yeah, I guess that's the reason."

There was silence after that, and Rowen was suddenly aware that Cale was still watching him with a look of intrigue. The look Cale gave him was so strange that Rowen felt uncomfortable about being alone with the Warlord of Darkness. Hoping that Cale would stop looking at him, he said, "But you're not fighting for Talpa anymore. Then why are you still acting like Sage is your enemy?"

Cale's eyes hardened, and he looked away. "Because Halo is still my enemy."

"But the war is over," Rowen protested.

"Not this one," Cale shot at Strata. "This war isn't over yet."

"But why?" Rowen persisted.

Cale grabbed Rowen's shoulders and pulled the youth closer. "Because Halo is a traitor and a murderer!" he whispered vengefully, spittle flying out of his mouth. "He may claim to fight for right and protect the weak, but he's nothing but a dirty, filthy. . ."

"That's not true!" Rowen shouted, and pushed the Warlord of Darkness away. "Sage was right; there is something wrong with you."

Cale laughed bitterly. "Is that what Halo said about me? Like he knows me?" The dark face twisted into a grimace. "Halo knows nothing about me, but I know all about Halo."

"What do you know about Sage?" Rowen shouted at Cale. "You claim you know Sage, but you obviously don't. I've known Sage since we were kids, and I know he's not what you've said he is."

Cale chuckled throatily, his left check facing whatever light escaped from the horizon accentuating his scars. "Fine, be a fool. But I won't let Halo trick me again," he told Strata with a bitter smile. "But listen to me, Rowen. You say Halo is your friend, but watch him closely. He will betray you, and he'll do it soon. Watch him very closely," Cale warned.

Rowen turned to the older man, and grabbed the jacket collar that Cale was wearing. Cale was a few inches taller than the Bearer of Strata, but that didn't stop him from vocalizing his threat. "Sage is my friend, and I trust him with my life. And I wouldn't be his friend if I just stand here while you trash talk his name. I'm warning you, if you try to hurt him or any of my other friends, I'll definitely make sure you don't have a future." As they were looking at each other face to face, Rowen saw beads of sweat forming on the older man's face. At the distance where they were, he saw just how tired and fatigued Cale was. And there was something else in his face. Sadness? Regret? It puzzled him.

Cale brushed away the grip on his clothes and his face changed to that of amusement. He chuckled, "Fine, but I'm not the one you should be worrying about." He then turned, and walked back into the shadows of the house.

Rowen stared at the shadows where Cale seemed to melt into, and then felt his knee grow weak. Never had he ever threatened someone so personally. But that wasn't the only thing that made him shake, it was the look in Cale's eyes. Those eyes said so much that Rowen didn't comprehend. They were filled with Darkness, but also with hatred, understanding, fearlessness, and sorrow. They were eyes that were hiding things that nobody should know, but he still wanted to trust them. Rowen turned back to the stars, his mind clouded with confusion, wishing that the stars could tell him even what would happen that night.

* * *

"We need either Halo, Strata and Cale to be in each group, three to a group," Dias told everyone. "We'll go in separate directions, and use these radios to communicate with each other." He held up the radios for everyone to see. "If any group sees the creature, they are to keep an eye on it and call the other groups. Three isn't enough to take this thing, so don't try. We want to finish this tonight."

"Who put him in charge," Kento whispered to Ryo, who just shrugged. He, for one, didn't mind someone else taking the lead.

"How are we going to determine whose group we go with?" Cye asked, folding his arms.

"Dibbs on Rowen," Kento shouted, pulling the dark blue subarmored youth toward him.

"Then Sekhmet will finish off that group," Kayura declared, pushing the Warlord of Venom toward the two. "Me and Torrent will go with Cale, and that leaves you three."

Ryo and Sage looked at Dias, who nodded in agreement. They all noticed Kayura was careful to make sure certain parties didn't end up together, but also that each group ended up with a Warlord.

Dias, once again taking charge, started assigning areas for each group to patrol. He continued to talk about sticking together and not leaving any stone unturned, passing out maps and radios as he talked.

Ryo slowly moved to Kayura, and whispered to her, "I need to talk to you."

"Can it wait?" Kayura whispered back.

"No, this concerns tonight," Ryo told her, and moved away from the bunch. When they were a little ways away, he stopped.

"What is this about, Ryo?" Kayura asked, worry written on her face.

"I need to talk to you about Cale," Ryo told her. "We've been concerned that there could be some sort of connection between him and this creature."

"There's nothing to worry about," Kayura quickly told him. "We have everything taken care of."

"What do you mean?" Ryo asked, unsure of the answer.

"Just trust me, it's under control," Kayura told him firmly. Then she turned to leave.

"Wait, there's more," Ryo called out and grabbed her arm. When he had her attention once more, he continued on. "There's been some contention between him and Sage. He's been very aggressive toward Sage."

"I've noticed Cale's behaviour, but shouldn't you be talking to Cale about this?" Kayura asked.

"But, aren't you the leader?"

"Why do you think I'm the leader?"

"But, it seemed like you are. And you have the ancient's staff."

"Yeah, I'm going to lead them," Kayura said sarcastically, pointing at the three full grown men.

Ryo realized how ridiculous that sounded, especially since the Warlords had so much more experience with the armors than her. "Sorry, I just thought that you could help with the situation since we're all working together."

"I agree that something like this needs to be resolved," Kayura told him, holding her head like she had a headache. "But you should really talk to Cale about this, not me."

"Please," Ryo pleaded to the younger girl. "You know him better."

Kayura tried to stare the Ronin down, but relinquished after seeing his eyes looking into hers. "Fine. I'll talk to him tonight. You men are such big babies."

Ryo didn't argue over her insult, just grateful that she was doing him this favor.

"Okay, everyone. Let's move out," Dias shouted, and started leading his group out into the night. That was the signal for the crowd to break up into their assigned groups, heading into the darkness to search for what seems like a needle in a haystack.

* * *

"Rowen, how does your side look?"

"Everything's good here, Ryo. We've already circled around once and nadda."

"What about you, Cye? Anything?"

"We're going a bit slow, but we haven't spotted anything yet."

"What's the hold up?"

"Kayura and Cale sort of had a little fight, and that stopped our progress. Do you know what that's about?"

Ryo grimaced as he could here Kayura's voice still talking very loudly nearby the radio's speaker. "Kind of," Ryo mumbled into the radio. "I asked Kayura to talk to Cale about Sage."

He heard Cye sigh, and he then realized that he shouldn't have asked, especially at such a critical time.

"Ryo, when you said you would do something about this. . ."

"Ryo! Ryo!"

Cye's sentence was cut short when Rowen's voice started shouting out of the speaker.

"Rowen, what is it?"

"I. . I think we found it. Sekhmet says that it's definitely the creature that we've been looking for."

"Where is it?" Ryo half-shouted back.

"We're at the high school, in the football field."

"What is it doing?" Cale voice asked urgently through Cye's radio.

"It looks like it's attacking the air, it can't go any further," Rowen told them.

"It's the shield," Dias told Ryo from where he was standing next to him. "It's been attacking that area ever since we put the shield last night."

"Halo, get over there now," Cale screamed through the speaker.

Sage was about to take the radio from Ryo, and tell Cale where could put it when Dias shoved the two Ronins in the direction of Rowen and his team.

"We have to move. That creature must know the three of them are there," Dias told them. "Kayura, Cale, Torrent, meet us there. I don't want to take any chances with this thing."

Ryo looked up at the white haired Warlord with wonder. So far, he had been issuing most of the orders throughout the entire night. He was able to take charge so easily, like a true leader. Ryo never thought of Dias as one to lead. Since the battle with Talpa, he's always pictured Dias as a hard warrior hidden behind his battle mask and ominous armor. But Ryo's image of the Warlord had been changed from one night with him. Ryo suddenly felt very inadequate. The other Ronins had always looked to him for leadership. He'd never figured out whether it was because of his armor, if he was destined to lead, or if he was just the best candidate from their group of mismatched unseasoned warriors. He wished he could be as cool and calm as Dias was, always knowing what exactly to do in this situation. Even though he did miss being the leader, it was refreshing to see how it was to be given orders instead of the other way around.

As they were racing to the school, the radio kept beeping as someone started to talk. Rowen was continually telling the others what the creature was doing, and Cye sometimes told them where he was. Ryo let his radio alone, trying to concentrate on getting to Rowen's group. After a while of running, Ryo realized that Rowen had stopped talking and the radio was completely silent.

"Rowen, what's going on?" Ryo asked, clicking the button on the radio to talk. "Rowen, are you there? Somebody answer me."

"Rowen? Rowen?" Cye shouted as well.

"The creature is out!" Rowen's voice shouted from the radio. "It's out of the net. How did it get out?"

"Where is it?" Dias shouted, grabbing the radio from Wildfire.

"It's in the suburbs. We're pursing it right now. You said it couldn't get out. How did it get out?!"

"Kayura said it shouldn't have been able to," Cye shouted, his voice sounding strained.

"How far are you guys away?" Rowen asked, his voice shaking.

"We're at the school now," Ryo told them. "Where are you now exactly?"

"Oh no," Rowen's voice faltered. "I know where it's going."

"Where are you?" Cye asked. "Where is it going?"

Rowen's next words made Ryo turn pale, and filled his heart with dread.

They were too far away. They wouldn't make it there in time.

* * *

Once the creature had breached through the invisible net, Sekhmet was following quickly behind it. Kento was right on his heels, followed by a slower Rowen who was contacting the others about the situation. He was too busy listening to the radio that he didn't realize where they were running. It was Kento that pointed to a house.

"That's my house," Kento told Rowen.

Rowen looked into Hardrock's face, and saw something he's never seen before. Kento's face was completely drained of blood, and fear was plastered on his countenance. To have their enemy, to have their battle so close to his home scared him more than anything.

While Kento faltered in his steps a little, Rowen noticed another thing. The creature didn't seem to be trying to escape, but was making a straight line somewhere. Rowen imagined a map in his mind trying to think of where it would be going.

"Oh no," Rowen said, his throat tightening. He lifted the radio to his mouth. "I know where it's going."

"Where are you? Where is it going?"

Rowen quickened his steps as did Kento who also figured what was ahead of them.

"It's after Robyn!" Rowen shouted, passing up both Kento and Sekhmet.

"Robyn!" he heard Cye's voice cry out from the radio. "Rowen, you gotta save her! Please!"

"If we are to save your friend," Sekhmet told them, "we must first put on our armors."

As the Warlord of Venom was running down the pavement, he quickly summoned his armor without slowing a step. Rowen and Kento followed his actions, pulling out their weapon special to their armor.

"You can't do it alone," Cale's voice shouted from the radio. "Where is Halo? He needs to be there. He's the only one that can keep the creature at bay."

"Sage, where are you?" Rowen asked into the radio. "Hurry, we're there."

As they turned the corner, the warrior of Strata almost stopped his charge at the wreckage around the small Mouri house.


	4. Chapter 3: Darkness and Light

Changes in Destiny

Chapter 3: Darkness and Light

By Hatashi Kitty

Robyn had taken her promise with Cye seriously, and stayed around the house all day. However, when the Ronins left her in the fog that morning, she had been confused about what to do with the giant jungle cat that Ryo left in her possession. Unlike Ryo's house, she didn't have a grove of trees for White Blaze to roam around in. And she didn't know what Cye's mom would think if she just left him on the porch. Without any other ideas, she quickly snuck the tiger into her room which wasn't easy because of his size. She thought it would be against her better judgment, but she was proved wrong when White Blaze picked a corner, sniffed it, and laid down for a nap. And he had stayed there the entire day, making Robyn think he was nocturnal.

Robyn decided the day would be best spent studying, since she remembered a homework assignment due Monday. She turned the air conditioning higher to make the thick furred cat more comfortable, and spent almost the entire day in her room. She found so many things to occupy herself, that she didn't realize how late it was until White Blaze wanted out. She decided she needed out as well, and quietly led the tiger down the stairs.

Robyn had never felt so safe going on a walk, even though the sun had gone down. But she had never gone on a walk with a tiger before. Robyn had been afraid that White Blaze would attract a lot of attention, and the few people they saw were very startled at the sight of a white tiger. But the fact that there weren't very many people out made her uneasy. Even though it was dark, it wasn't that late. The streets seemed almost deserted, like the towns in old western movies during a fight. Robyn kept her hand on the tiger's shoulders, giving her comfort when she received a weird feeling. She felt an urgent need to be somewhere lighter than the streets. After that, she turned around to go back home.

White Blaze was content enough to lie down on the porch, and Robyn hoped he wouldn't go anywhere or be seen by anyone. The house was quiet when she went inside. After checking that Cye's mother went to bed early, she decided to turn in as well. She brushed her teeth and put on her PJs, but when she was ready to turn off the light she hesitated. She looked out the window to the outside, and she could almost swear that the darkness was getting thicker as if it was trying to seep into her room. The hair of her neck rose, and she had the sudden urge to jump into bed and pulled the covers over her head like a child hiding from monsters in the closet. Instead, she left the light on, and pulled out a novel she's been meaning to read for a while. She was feeling jumpy since the guys left, and needed a way to get her mind off of them.

She was just barely finished the first few pages, when she heard growling outside. She sat up, not wanting to check if it was White Blaze. Soon after that, there was a scream that didn't come from either human or animal. The lights above her flickered and then made a popping noise before things went dark. Robyn sat rooted to her bed, not knowing what to do or what was going on. Again, she heard the unearthly scream, and she slide around on her bed until she found the protection of the wall.

A loud scratching at her bedroom door made her scream, and move away from the door. As she did, she fell off the bed toward the window. What little light from the moon and stars helped her see a little, but not much. She starred wide-eyed at the door as something slammed against it, breaking the hinges. A large shadow leapt toward her, and she flinched as she thought the thing would land on her. Instead, it jumped nearby her, and stood right over her. She felt warm breath on her, and whiskers rub against her face.

"White Blaze," she whispered, throwing herself against the large animal and burying her face in his neck. As she took comfort in the tiger, she heard him growl ferociously. She felt him move so he was facing her window. She looked out as well, seeing the stars and the silver half moon peering down at them.

The inhuman scream filled the air again, chilling Robyn's blood. Then the stars and moon disappeared, and everything was pitch black.

Robyn felt teeth latch onto her shirt, and start dragging her toward the doorway. She eagerly let the tiger lead her away from whatever was outside. Just as she reached the doorway, there was a loud noise like an explosion. Small bits of something she couldn't see flew into her, and she could feel a ruthless wind swirling around her room.

Robyn couldn't have been given better encouragement to move faster. She jumped onto her feet, trusting White Blaze to lead her in the right direction. But where would they go? She immediately thought of Cye's mother. Should she go to her, and together they would escape? But if the thing was after her, that would put Mrs. Mouri in danger. If that was the case, she'd had to lead whatever it was away from the house.

Robyn moved the tiger in the direction she knew where the stairs were, and let the animal lead her in that direction. She continued to help White Blaze go in the direction of the back door, hoping the large cat could see well enough to not run them into any walls. After a few blind minutes, White Blaze stopped, and Robyn reached out and felt the door. As her fingers touched it, it was ripped away from her grasp only to be filled with more whipping wind. White Blaze pushed her back further into the house, growling and snarling at the unseen intruder.

There was a cold, humid breeze on Robyn's skin as she backed away, and she could almost feel something coming closer to her. A rotten smell perforated her nose that left her gasping for fresh air. White Blaze jumped away from her toward the thing that was encroaching on her. A fight ensued that Robyn couldn't see, but could only guess what was happening by the roars and growls of the tiger, and the screams from the creature. Finally, White Blaze let out half a growl, interrupted by something colliding with him.

"White Blaze!" Robyn shouted, not knowing what she should do. She didn't know where he was. She was alone with who knows what in the house. She tried to move away from where she believed the thing was, but broken debris, furniture and walls impeded most of her movements. While trying to get away, something grabbed her ankle and she landed hard on broken wood. Pain shot through her hands where she caught herself. But she wasn't worrying too much about that. She instead was frighteningly aware of a cold dark sensation crawling up her legs. Even though it felt different, it was so familiar to the time when Jason and the cult he belonged to used her to summon Nago. It felt like her soul was being encased with dry ice and hatred. She tried to crawl away, but whatever had her was too powerful.

"White Blaze!" she called out, tears running down her face. "Somebody, help me!"

Just as the darkness was flowing over her thighs, a speck of light appeared ahead of her. She locked her eyes on it as it approached amazingly fast. In no time, the speck grew into an arrow that embedded into the floor a few feet away from her. The arrow was glowing dimly, just enough for her to be able to see a few feet in front of her.

A shadow of a creature retreated from the small light, hissing maliciously from the light's boundaries.

"Robyn! Robyn! Are you here?"

Recognizing the voice, Robyn picked the arrow up, and waved it around.

"Rowen! Here. I'm here."

The arrow's light was quickly going out, and Robyn could feel the creature coming closer. She clutched the fading arrow to her chest, her only lifeline in the thick darkness. At the edge of the arrow's light, she could see a little of the creature pacing like a wild animal's shadow. It clawed at the line of light that was a boundary between it and its prey, and the circle of light was growing smaller by the second.

"Rowen!"

Another arrow hit into the floor between Robyn and the demon, giving the broken house more light. The creature screamed and retreated further. That was when a blue metallic arm reached out through the darkness and wrapped around her waist. She was lifted off the floor and held against the dark blue armor. Just as the second arrow dimmed like the first, Robyn as able to catch a glimpse of a pair of hard blue eyes and the shoulder of an orange armor.

"Rowen, is she alright?" Kento's voice shouted from the darkness.

"Kento!" she called out shakily. She had an urge to reach her hand out, to have some sort of physical contact with her friend, but the thought of touching something other than Kento frightened her. Instead, she clung to Rowen's armor, trying to suppress her shaking and heavy breathing.

"I have her, she's okay," Rowen answered.

"Get the girl out of here now, Strata!" another voice that Robyn didn't recognize shouted in the dark.

"Wait," Robyn told Rowen, and she felt him start to move. "White Blaze is hurt. You have to find him."

"We'll find him," Kento promised her. "But you need to be safe."

"Don't worry, Robyn," Rowen told her. "Everything will be alright." He started to carefully move around, cautious not to run into anything. But he didn't get very far before something hit him in the helmet so hard he flew backward. To protect Robyn, he held onto her tightly while taking the force of the fall.

"Rowen!" Robyn screamed.

"Rowen? What happened?" Kento shouted from somewhere in the dark.

"It's the demon," Rowen told them. "It hit me."

"Where are you?" the other voice called out.

"Rowen, are you okay?" Robyn asked from on top of him.

As much as he would have liked to say a joke about their being in that position in the dark, it would just have to wait. "Yeah, but we won't be if we can't see," Rowen told her sitting up. "Get off of me, you're heavy."

If he was well enough to joke, he was okay, Robyn reasoned to herself. She stood up, keeping in contact with the Ronin. She could hear his armor moving, but she couldn't see what Rowen was up to until a bright arrow appeared right in front of her nose.

"If I shoot one of you guys, I'm sorry," Rowen called out, and shot the arrow into the dark. It stopped ten feet away, embedded into a wall. Quickly, he shot off a few more, lighting up a small space.

"Good thinking, Rowen," Kento called out, stepping into the light and pulling out one of the arrows.

"But Strata's arrows won't stay lit for long," the owner of the mysterious voice said. The green haired stranger also took one of the arrows and watched it as the light slowly faded. "We need the power of Halo."

Kento waved his arrow around the torn up room. "What if Rowen used his arrows to make a trail out of here?"

"It's worth a try," Rowen said, reaching behind him and pulling out another arrow.

Robyn watched him shoot the arrow on his strange bow that had no string or any other source that propelled the arrow into the darkness. She didn't question about it, all curiosity had been taken away from her for the time. The only thing on her mind right now was to stay in the light and stay next to Rowen.

At first, they tried to go through the back door where Robyn was trying to escape, but found that blocked by debris, so they had to turn around and go through the house to the front exit. It was slow progress since the arrows didn't give off a lot of light and dimmed quickly. Sometimes they found the light that protected their backs fade a lot faster than Rowen's shooting.

"Come on, man. Just a few more and we can get out of here," Kento told Rowen as a few more arrows faded.

"Just give me a minute," Rowen told the Bearer of Hardrock as he leaned on his knees.

Robyn could see that Rowen was tired since he looked paler than usual. She had also noticed that the arrows weren't a bright as the first ones he shot.

"It seems that these arrows take a lot of energy from you, Strata," Sekhmet told Kento. "The Arrow Shock Wave has taken its toll, but we need you to give more. We're almost out of here, and Halo should be almost here."

Rowen nodded, and stood up straight.

Just as they had hoped, it only took a few more arrows to bring the front door into the light. Kento whooped and bounded to the doors to fling them open.

Sekhmet was the only one who heard the slight sucking noises behind the door. He called out to warn Kento, but was barely able to open his mouth before the trap was sprung.

As if they were in a vacuum, everything was pulled toward the darkness beyond the doorway. The arrows were scattered about and were finally consumed by the creature's supernatural darkness.

Robyn screamed as her feet left the ground. She landed on grass and skidded and rolled past it onto concrete. She could feel liquid on her arms and legs as she rolled onto her hands and knees. The lack of light quickened her heart, and she felt so alone and helpless not knowing where exactly she was or where her friends were.

"Robyn?!" Rowen shouted from a distance, in a direction she couldn't figure out.

"Rowen," she shouted as loud as she could, hoping that he could find her.

"Robyn, keep calling and we'll find you," Rowen's voice shouted worriedly.

"I'm here," Robyn called once more. "Kento. Rowen. Anyone."

She continued to call until a sharp hiss made her voice disappear. It was close to her, almost right behind her head. Like an antelope after hearing a lion's roar, Robyn jumped up and started running away from the noise. She heard the scream that sent shivers down her back, and soft footsteps running after her.

"Kento! Rowen! It's after me!" she screamed, ignoring the hardness of the concrete and the sharp rocks under her bare feet as she ran away.

"Run, Robyn!" Rowen shouted. But to her fear, the voice sounded further away than it did before.

It scared her so much to run in complete darkness, not knowing if she is heading toward anything that could trip her or hurt her in some way. But the fear of the unknown thing that was pursuing her was even greater than not being able to see.

She didn't know how far or how long she had been running, but the chase ended abruptly when her feet landed on the edge of the concrete and fell sideways onto the asphalt a few inches lower. Rocks and asphalt ground into her broken skin, making every nerve in her hands and knees catch on fire. Stunned, her mind was reeling over what had happened, trying to figure out what to do. Before she could react, something landed on her. It didn't feel very heavy, but she couldn't move it. Cold, stinking air rushed around her face making her choke and cough. On her face and neck, she felt small drops of water falling on her as cold as liquid nitrogen. She could just imagine the horrible beast that now had her trapped underneath it, its claws and teeth slowly reaching out for her tender flesh, to spill her life on the road. She closed her eyes, for all good they did for her now, and waited for the end to come.

"THUNDER BOLT CUT!"

Even though her eyes were shut tight, Robyn could see the brilliant light through her thin eye lids and they hurt from being in the dark so much. She covered her head as she felt electricity crackle all around her, making her hair defy gravity.

"Robyn!" Sage's voice screamed from the source of the blinding light.

Robyn tried to open her eyes, but it felt like she was trying to wake up from a restless night's sleep. Her eyes were heavy and hurt from the luminescence. The light dimmed as a hand touched her shoulder. It was enough for her to be able to open her eyes, and see the young man donned in green armor.

"Robyn, are you okay?" Sage asked, helping her up.

"That thing," Robyn said, her voice sounding very distant. "What was it?"

"It's still here," Sage told her darkly, pointing hi No-dachi at the edge of his lightened domain.

Robyn gasped at the sight of the creature since it wasn't what she had expected. It seemed so much bigger, stronger and powerful than the pitiful beast that shivered and shook from the light. It didn't look any bigger than a cat. Its body looked as if it was a combination of feline and canine, and just about as thin as a starved animal. Its head was all feline except for unnaturally large eyes that took up most of its face. The eyes were a grey and glossy, like the fishes that lived at the bottom of the deepest part of the ocean. Its back was hunched over like a hyena and the rest of its body looked deformed and feeble, like a half-formed creature. It ended with a tail that was about five inches, and looked as if it had been cut short. Around its belly, loose skin hung as if it were old and ready to die. Off of its chin all the way to the loose skin around the belly, a black gooey liquid dripped down and blended in with the other shadows.

"It's so small," Robyn said in surprise, wondering how something with its size could inflict so much destruction.

"Don't let that fool you," a deep voice told her, and a man in maroon armor landed next to Sage. "This demon's appearance is to deceive the weak-minded to gain an advantage."

"And you know all about deceptions, Dais," Kento called out as he landed on the other side of Sage. "Where are the others?"

"Wildfire is helping Strata and Sekhmet. Strata looked like he took a hard hit, and as for Kayura's team, they were behind us. We'll have to take care of this thing without them."

"Way ahead of you," Kento shouted, raising his weapon and charged at the dark beast.

"No, Hardrock!" Dias shouted at the impetuous youth, but it came out too late.

At the sight of the storming Ronin, the creature hissed sharply and faded into the darkness. As it disappeared, so did the suffocating darkness that surrounded it.

Sage sighed and lowered his sword. "It's gone," he said. The light that radiated from his armor turned off, but they could still see because of the street lights nearby.

"Hardrock!" Dais shouted angrily at the orange armored young man. "Could you get any stupider?!"

"Wha. . ." Kento muttered a look of complete confusion on his face.

"We've just spent hours looking for that thing, and you wasted all our hard work with that one idiotic move," Dais yelled, arms shaking and fists clenched. "What were you thinking?"

"Hey, freak, my only objective was to keep Robyn safe," Kento argued back with the full force of his voice.

"So your idea of keeping this poor girl safe is to let the enemy get away, and have another chance at getting her," Dias screamed back closing the distance between the two. "Try using that thing that God gave that's called a brain."

"I didn't see you trying to stop that demon," Kento bellowed. "'This demon's appearance is to deceive the weak-minded to gain an advantage'. What kind of advice is that? That kind of 'infinite wisdom' we can do without."

"I'll show you some infinite wisdom," Dias yelled, brandishing his weapon.

"Oh, I'd love you to try, ugly freak," Kento spurred the Warlord.

"Come on, little man."

Robyn starred wide-eyed at how much anger and hatred her friend was displaying at the older man. "Sage, shouldn't we try and stop them?" she asked worriedly.

"It's best not to get in between them," Sage told her in a stoic voice. "There's a lot of history behind them."

"Who is he?" Robyn asked. "And the other guy. Are they the Warlords you mentioned this morning?"

"We'll explain everything later," Sage told her. "Right now we need to get you somewhere safe when Ryo and the others come back."

"Ryo?" Robyn repeated, thinking that there was something she forgot. "Oh my gosh. White Blaze. White Blaze got hurt from that creature. He must be back at the house. And Cye's mother is still there too. We need to make sure she's alright. And Rowen was hurt too."

Robyn seemed so worried and flustered about other people, that she didn't realize the damage to her own body. Sage noticed right away the condition her hands and legs were in, but didn't want to say anything. At least, not until they had a first aid kit nearby to clean the wounds. The most important thing right now was to make sure she was safe.

"We'll take care of them," Sage told her gently. "We'll make sure everyone is okay, but we have to wait for everyone."

"Robyn!"

She turned at the sound of her name to see her childhood friend in armor coming toward her. He was followed by a young woman and a man, both in armor. Cye immediately embraced her, and she welcomed the comfort he gave her.

"Oh, stop it, you two," Kayura shouted at the fighting Warlord and Ronin. "You promised me you wouldn't cause any trouble, Uncle Dais."

"Uncle Dais?" Kento repeated, looking at Kayura in wonder. He then ducked away, hiding a grin from the others.

Dais looked down at the girl with not an ounce of remorse in his face, but didn't say anything. With a "humph," he walked away to Cale.

"Dude," Kento shouted running up to his two friends. "What took you so long? You missed all the action."

"We would have gotten here a lot quicker, but we had a little. . . trouble," Cye said warily glancing quickly at Cale. Kento gave him a questioning look, so he whispered, "I'll tell you about it later.

Dias leaned over to Cale, and playfully said, "That girl of ours in getting more and more outspoken every day. What are we going to do with her?"

When the darker Warlord didn't answer, Dais leaned over to get his attention. But Cale's attention was fixed on the red-headed girl talking to Cye. Cale's face was full of wonder and confusion as he starred in a daze. It was only after Dais elbowed him in the ribs did he realize what he was doing.

"What is it?"

"You were starring."

Cale shifted his gaze away almost embarrassed. "No I wasn't. I'm just tired."

"Fine," Dias said before he left the other Warlord. He then addressed everyone. "Let's get moving. We'll met up with the others, and call it a night."

* * *

When the group had arrived back at the Mouri house, Robyn felt very faint. She didn't realize how much damage had been done until seeing the outside in the street light's luminescence. The front door had been torn out of its hinges and lay thirty feet away on the road. The back was even worse, since part of the house collapsed from the lack of structure. But the one thing that scarred Robyn the most was that the walls around her room were gone, as if a giant hand tore it away.

In the front yard, to Robyn's relief, were the remaining members of the team, including a giant black and white tiger.

"White Blaze!" Robyn cried out, running to the large cat. "You're okay, boy. Thank goodness." She hugged him, listening to the loud purr that rumbled out of his throat.

"He's a little bruised, but he'll be okay," Ryo told her. "Sekhmet was able to get him out of the house before it started to collapse."

Ryo looked at the snake-like Warlord with appreciation, and the old man shrugged like it was no big deal. But somehow he didn't look like he liked being the savior of a tiger, since White Blaze was rubbing with even more gratitude against Sekhmet, his bulk almost knocking the man over.

"Oh, poor baby," Robyn said soothingly, lavishing her love on the tiger, who turned his attention to the girl. "You saved my life. I'm going to make sure you have a big dinner tonight."

White Blaze licked her hand and butted his head against her.

"Hey, what about me?!" Rowen complained from the grass where Ryo was wrapping a bandage around his head.

"Are you okay?" Robyn asked, moving to the young man. She looked very worried since she didn't notice him at first. "I'm sorry; you got hurt because of me." She took his armored hand in both of hers and looked down sadly at the dark blue beads on them. "You all had to save me once again."

Seeing the depressed look on Robyn's face, dropped his head onto her shoulder and did his best impression of White Blaze's purr. "Are you going to make me dinner, too?"

Robyn quickly moved away, letting Rowen's head fall to the ground. "I don't think that bandage it tight enough," she told Ryo, and took the loose ends from the Ronin. "Here let me do it."

"Ow! Robyn, cut it out! I'm hurt," Rowen whined.

"Suck it up!"

"If you two love birds are finished," Sage interrupted their fight, and waited for them to separate themselves before continuing on. "I suggest we move or at least change so we don't look so out of place. It looks like someone called the police."

Everyone turned to the sounds of sirens that were coming toward them. They could barely see the flashing lights of the cars as they approached.

"We can't let civilians get caught up in this," Kayura said, solemnly.

"Cye, you and Robyn need to stay here," Ryo told the two. "It'd look strange if you were missing."

"But what about that thing?" Robyn asked, a little fear coming from her voice.

"Don't worry," Ryo told her, holding her shoulder. "Some of us will stay nearby in case it shows up. We'll all meet back at Rowen's house later."

"Okay," Cye agreed, and changed out of his armor. "Come on, Robyn. We should be inside, when they come."

"Yeah," Robyn said softly. "We should go find your mother."

"My mom's still in there!?" Cye asked, and ran to the half-destroyed house.

They found out that it was Mrs. Mouri who called the police. She woke up to what sounded to her like an explosion. She immediately picked up the phone for help. Robyn and Cye found her calling for them at the top of the stairs, and helped her down. When the police came, they told the officers that Cye just barely came home after it had happened, and that Robyn woke up to the sound like Mrs. Mouri. But she tried to find her way down the stairs in the dark, and was hurt from falling. An ambulance that came with the police washed her wounds and bandaged them. Robyn didn't realize she had been hurt so badly until the medic had to scrub gravel out of her palms and knees. After they had finished with her, she felt so stiff and sore from the wounds and the dressings that she could barely walk.

After they police had asked them a lot of questions, they told the Mouris and Robyn to find somewhere to stay since their house was no longer livable. Mrs. Mouri was going to stay at a neighbor's, and gave the officer a phone number in case they had any other questions. Cye gave Rowen's number. Before Robyn could say anything, Cye gave a phone number where he said Robyn was going to stay. She figured it was a bogus number.

"Do you kids need a ride?" the officer asked as he climbed into the car.

"No, our friends just live down the street," Cye told them good-naturedly, and waved as the car drove off.

"Rowen doesn't live nearby," Robyn pointed out. "So how are we going to get there?"

"I can get both of us there with my armor," Cye told her, bringing out his armor's orb.

"How? Through the sewers," Robyn jested sarcastically, watching Cye put his subarmor on.

"Have I told you how funny you are?" Cye told her in the same tone. He picked her up in his arms, and jumped up into the air. He felt bad later, but he smiled childishly as Robyn screamed at the sudden movement.

"So, where am I staying?" Robyn asked, holding onto Cye's neck.

"Stop strangling me," Cye told her as he ran. "You'll be staying at Rowen's too."

"Oh, how scandalous," she joked. Then she remembered how small Rowen's house was since he only lived with his mom. "Is everyone going to be staying there?"

"Yeah, he's the only one without family home. His mom is out of town at the time."

"Shouldn't everyone stay at home to keep their families safe? That creature could go after them."

Cye didn't say anything to Robyn's comment.

"Isn't that why that creature attacked me? It's because of you guys, right? Not that I blame you, but isn't that the reason? Cye?" Robyn suddenly became worried, and Cye's silence wasn't helping.

Cye didn't say anything for a while, and then took a deep breath. "There's something we need to tell you, but I think it should wait. You had a tough night, and it would be better if you got some sleep," he told her softly.

Robyn dropped her eyes, and figured out the reason for the demon's appearance in Toyama. "Okay," she relented, her voice gone very soft.

* * *

Bright green eyes starred up at him. Green eyes that used to look at him so many different way. Angry, happy, serious, suspicious, laughing, endearing. But now they looked up at him so coldly, for there was no life behind those eyes. Strands of red hair crossed over those green eyes, cascading around the pale face onto the floor. The red hair mixed in with the fresh blood that pooled around her head. A black form stood nearby, teeth bared and flecked with human blood.

Rowen woke up with a start, sweat pouring down his face. Distorted from waking up in the night, he felt around for anything familiar that would tell him where he was, and what was real. He realized he was on the floor and felt the person next to him, which was Kento by the sound of the snores. Everything came back to him, that Robyn was sleeping in his bed, and everyone else had dropped where they were except for two chosen to be guards.

Due to his low blood pressure, Rowen loved to sleep, and slept heavier and longer than anyone else he knew. But after the nightmare he just had, going back to sleep didn't seem to be an option to him. Careful not to step on anyone, Rowen made his way to the kitchen where he could turn on the lights without waking the others. He didn't feel hungry, but craved to have something. He grabbed an ice-cream bar out of the freezer, and walked down the hall as he ate it.

Slowly, he opened his bedroom door and looked in on the sleeping figure. The light hit her face, and she turned away from it with a small moan. Rowen couldn't help but smile at her, grateful that she was still there. He wanted to go in there, brush her hair out of her face, touch her hand and hold her, to do anything to make sure she was okay. But he resisted the temptation.

"Rowen."

The Bearer of Strata jumped as his name was whispered.

"Ahhh!" Rowen half-cried out, and turned around quickly. "Geez, Sage. I didn't even hear you sneak up on me. What the crap are you doing up?"

"I'm on guard duty. I saw the light on, and came to see who was up."

"Just me," Rowen whispered to Sage, and closed the bedroom door. "What's up?"

"I'm tired. I'm going to bed so you can take my place," Sage said bluntly.

"What time is it?"

"Wait, Sage."

Sage was walking to the living room when Rowen called him back.

"Um, can I talk to you?"

"Is it about Robyn?"

Sage had always seemed to be able to read Rowen's thoughts, but Rowen always thought that was because Sage knew him so well. But this time, it was kind of eerie how perceptive Sage was.

"Yeah." Rowen moved into the kitchen so they could sit down.

"What is it?" Sage said tiredly.

Rowen watched as the rest of his ice-cream bar melted, and ran down his hand onto the table. He really wanted to talk about it to Sage, but in a way didn't want to.

Sage sighed. "Is this about your feelings toward Robyn?"

"How did you know?"

"Rowen, we've been friends for a long time. I can tell. Besides, you're not very hard to read."

"Okay, since you know everything about me, just give me all the answers to my questions," Rowen huffed.

Sage rolled his eyes. "I can give you answers, but they may not be the ones you want to hear." Sage waited for a retort of some kind, and then proceeded to share his wisdom. "I don't know how Robyn feels about you, but your schoolboy childish antics aren't going to tell her your intentions. You need to tell her how you feel."

"I know that," Rowen said quietly. "But I'm afraid that if I do, it will change our relationship. I don't want there to be any awkwardness between us if she rejects me."

"It's a risk you'll have to take," Sage told him. "Life's always been a gamble. Love is no exception."

"Um, Sage. What would you do?"

Sage looked up at his friend with a look that said _You must be joking_. "If you feel a certain way, and your feelings are very strong, then I would go for it. It's better to do something, and regret it later because any damage done can be fixed through time. But it's worth to regret something you didn't do, because you can't fix what's not there."

Rowen let his eyes wonder while he pondered Sage's words. The blonde stood up and started walking away. The movement brought to mind a more urgent question that Rowen wanted to ask concerning the dream. He lifted a hand toward his friend. "Uh, Sage. . ."

"Good-night, Rowen," Sage waved him off, his eyes already starting to close. "See you in the morning."

Rowen left his hand hanging in midair for a while, and then dropped it. After a few more minutes mulling over Sage's words and the dream, he cleaned up his ice-cream mess and went outside.

Standing on the small porch was Dais in a worn leather jacket, and just as worn out light blue jeans. He turned to the sound of Rowen opening and closing the door, and let out a sigh of relief.

"Good, someone relieved Halo from his shift. Cale, it's safe to come down."

Rowen looked at the Warlord strangely, but jumped when a head popped down from the roof. Rowen nearly had a heart attack before he realized it was the mentioned man. Cale had a look of boredom on his face, and a lit cigarette in his mouth. He slid off the roof in a front flip and landed between the two.

"Finally, it was getting cold up there," Cale muttered.

"It would be your fault if you caught a cold," Dais told him.

"What are you doing?" Rowen yelled, grabbing the cigarette out of the Warlord's mouth. "Do you want to burn my house down?"

"So sorry," Cale said without feeling. He watched Rowen put the cigarette out, and leaned against the house.

"Besides, don't you know those things will kill you?" Rowen added.

"Shows what you know, kid," Cale shot back in a board tone.

"Why do you do it? It's a disgusting habit," Dias said with a frown.

"Don't _you_ start on me. I only smoke when I'm ticked off," Cale replied, rubbing his head. "And that Halo really pisses me off."

"Knock it off, Cale," Dais muttered. "The Ronins are our allies. Kayura already had to scold you once. Next time she'll use more than words."

"Meh," Cale shrugged it off and folded his arms.

"Hey, man. I don't know what your problem is," Rowen pointed at the dark warrior. "But you say you know Sage, but how could you. So far, your accusations have been unfounded. I want to know why you think Sage is the betrayer you think he is"

"Again, shows what you know, kid," Cale repeated angrily.

"What are you two talking about?" Dais narrowed his eyes at his companion and the Ronin. "What has been going on between you two?"

Cale growled and threw a kick at part of the side railing. "I can see that I'm not going to get any peace between you two." He started walking away. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back by morning." And he faded into the dark.

"He's such a strange guy," Dias commented, sitting down on the cement steps. "We've spent the last thousand or so years together, and I still can't figure him out."

"Well, what about you?" Rowen asked with narrowed eyes. "What's your excuse?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were just as bad getting on Kento's case earlier. Do you think you're different than him?"

"Absolutely," Dias confirmed with a wry smile. "Kento just so happens to be my type."

Rowen opened his mouth, but he couldn't vocalize quite what he wanted to say. "Come again?"

"Throughout the years, there have been many bearers of the armors. With every generation, I like to pick a certain Ronin to pick on, specifically one that is particularly vulnerable to my illusions," Dias explained. "It wasn't always Hardrock; sometimes it was Torrent or Wildfire or Strata. It was the same with Sekhmet and Anubis. It was sort of a game with us. But with Cale it was different. From the first time we met, he was personally against the armor of Halo. He never wavered from his pursuit of that Bearer's destruction. I guess it's because of their elements, they were always opposite of each other."

Silence followed Dias's words, so calm and full of thoughts.

"I guess you find it kind of strange to hear an ex-enemy's strategy," Dias said, smirking up at Strata. "I thought that the vendetta would end after Talpa's fall, but Cale isn't one to change his convictions because his leader died."

"Who was Cale before Talpa?" Rowen asked hesitantly. "I mean, you guys had lives before you had the armors, right? If so, maybe Cale had a bad experience with the Halo armor before he became a Warlord."

"You might be on something there, kid," Dias said, rubbing his chin. "Unfortunately, we'll never know. Cale was in Talpa's service long before I arrived, and he wouldn't divulge any of his past. He preferred to keep to himself."

Rowen laughed a little. "That's ironic. In that way, he's a little like Sage. When we first became friends, it took forever for him to invite me over to his house. It seemed he didn't want anyone to know anything personal about him.

Dias laughed too. "That is ironic. Maybe they'll have so much in common, they'll become friends."

Another minute of silence passed between them, as they both summoned up mental pictures of the two in question being good friends. They both laughed at what they imagined, knowing that it was next to impossible for the rivals to like each other.

* * *

"How's your mom?"

"She's still a little shaken up. The police said it was a broken gas vein," Cye told the others.

"Hopefully they'll leave it at that," Sage said calmly.

"What did you tell your parents?" Cye asked.

"I said I was studying here, and fell asleep," Kento said with a grin.

"We all told them the same," Sage added.

"But what are we going to do about school?" Ryo asked. "We can't go. What if that creature attacks again?"

"In broad daylight?" Rowen said in disbelief. He yawned tiredly.

"It could make that weird fog again," Kento argued.

"It doesn't matter. We can't risk Robyn being by herself," Sage reasoned, brushing his hair away from his face. "Who knows how desperate the demon could get?"

"We must protect Robyn," Rowen agreed.

"How much does Robyn know about all of this?" Kayura asked

Ryo was the one that answered. "We didn't get a chance to talk to her last night, so she doesn't know why she was attacked?"

"I'm sure she has an idea that the creature is coming after her, though," Cye added. "She's not stupid. We need to tell her everything, including her part in it."

"I don't think it's a good idea to tell her anything," Dais told them all. "We should try not to get her involved in all of this."

"But she is involved. We can't just leave her out of it," Kento argued against the Warlord of illusion.

Dais frowned at Kento's remark.

"So, we should tell her," Rowen said, ignoring Kento and Dais.

"I don't know. I agree with Dais, perhaps it would be better if the girl didn't know," Sekhmet said. "She may react badly to the news."

"But Robyn hates it when we don't tell her things," Cye argued. "She's been through a lot. She already knows about our armors. She'll understand why she's involved."

"I also don't like it when people discuss about me."

They quickly turned around to find the red head in the door way, watching them with a passive countenance.

"Since you obviously have been listening. So come sit down, and we'll answer all your questions," Sage said, being the most reasonable one.

Robyn did just that, finding a seat next to Ryo and Cye.

"So, what do you want to know first?" Cye asked, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"For starters, who are they?" Robyn said, pointing toward the group of strangers.

"The Three Stooges," Kento muttered softly.

Ryo jumped up quickly, hoping that Kento's comment wasn't heard. "Sorry, we told you about the Warlords, but we didn't introduce you. This is Dais, Cale, Sekhmet and Kayura. And this is Robyn."

Kayura stood up with a bow, and said, "Pleased to meet you," while the Warlords waved or said the same thing with less effort. Only Cale kept his eyes fixated on her since she had entered the room with a stoic expression.

"Thank you for saving me yesterday," Robyn said, politely. "I didn't get a chance to say so last night."

"It was our pleasure," Sekhmet said, sounding more polite then the Ronins had ever heard from him.

"It was nothing," Dais muttered, and smiled, glad that he was appreciated.

Cale said nothing, but continued to look at her.

Robyn didn't take any note of this, but continued with her questions in a slow and quiet tone. "What I really want to know is what was that creature and why was it after me?"

"That creature comes from a world of darkness," Kayura began the story all over again, just as she did with the Ronins a few days ago. No one interrupted her until the last line was said.

"As Kayura just explained," Dias continued in her place, "that creature needs hearts with darkness to get stronger and survive. When we came to Toyama, we believed that there was a person whose heart is so full of darkness that the creature could gain unbelievable power from it."

"And you think that I'm this person," Robyn finished, sorrowfully.

"But one thing I don't understand," Sekhmet jumped in, "this girl isn't like the other victims. Usually darkness comes from hatred from the person's heart. But I don't sense any malice within her."

"Yes, I noticed that as well," Dais agreed. "Could it be possible that the demon was confused and made a mistake? Or could she possess something else that the demon wants? It's still a mystery to us."

"No, it's there," Cale told them all. "Her heart is good, but it is laced with darkness. Hatred isn't the only way to find darkness, as most of you think. Darkness isn't evil, it's a normal cycle in nature, much like death is to life. It's only demons like this creature, and Talpa that would perverse it into something destructive." Cale lowered his eyes, as if he was in deep thought. Then he lifted his eyes back to Robyn, seeing her curious face on him, and smiled softly at her. "Robyn's heart proves that someone can be emerged in darkness and still live in the light."

Sage widened his eyes at Cale's words, wondered what possessed his ex-enemy to say them. It sounded almost as if Cale knew what it was like, as if he had been in the light before and missed the feeling. Sage continued to dwell on what Cale exactly meant by those words, when Robyn spoke again.

"Is. . .does this have anything to do with Nago?" she asked, turning to Cye, her eyes fearful.

Cye put an arm around her, wishing he could put an invulnerable bubble around her to make sure she would stay safe during this whole ideal. "I don't know, but it's possible," Cye said truthfully.

"Nago?" Sekhmet repeated. "I remember Talpa mentioning a demon by that name. What does that have to do with her?"

"It's a long story," Cye said with a deep breath. "Me and Robyn were best friends when we were young. But she moved away, until last fall. . ."


	5. Chapter 4: Resting Before the Maelstrom

Changes in Destiny

Chapter 4: Resting Before the Maelstrom

By Hatashi Kitty

Despite her cuts and bruises from the previous night's horrifying run through pure darkness, not to mention the limited amount of sleep she had afterward, Robyn was unusually active in the Hashiba household. It was true that she would act up and be sort of childish around her friends, but she tried to keep to herself when there were strangers or adults around. However, the presence of the Warlords didn't seem to squish her "Robyn-ness." It seemed to be the fact that she was forbidden to leave the house what-so-ever that made her so active. To add insult to injury, she had woken up to find it a beautifully warm Monday, and wanted to go outside so badly, but every Ronin had adamantly refused her request to take her somewhere. So between pestering one Ronin after another, Robyn, for once, was driving patient Cye crazy.

"C'mon, Cye. Please?"

"No, Robyn. I told you over and over, you can't leave this house."

"Please. I'll go anywhere. I'll go food shopping with you. Or to the 7-11. Just let me outside."

"No Robyn. You know it's dangerous. We don't know what that creature is capable of. It has only attacked at night so far, but it might risk daylight to go after you."

"But I want to leave."

Cye's look wasn't in the least bit sympathetic to her plight, and sent her away from the kitchen. He was already in a bad mood, after figuring out he was the designated cook of the entire team, and expected to have the kitchen open for orders twenty-four seven. So said Rowen, who said it was his house so he made the rules.

More depressed than sulky, Robyn wandered around the house like a lost child for a while. Then she went and starred forlornly out the window, sighing as she watched birds and butterflies flutter by. She wasn't even allowed to sit on the porch, and felt like a prisoner sulking in the corner of the house. After a while, she became hot and thirsty, and retreated back to the kitchen to pester Cye again.

However, Torrent gently herded her away with a glass of water, so she started wandering the house looking for someone to talk to or even bother. But wherever she went, everyone was either taking their shift to sleep, or they were in groups talking about strategies that Robyn was completely confused about. She had just made her thirty-somethingth journey around the house, when Kento spotted her and grabbed her hand to drag her to the hallway without any explanation. He gestured for her to be quiet and hide herself in the doorway while peeking into the hall. He had a silly grin on his face, so Robyn did as he requested. She looked into the hallway, and saw White Blaze laying down on the floor. She didn't see anything particularly funny, and frowned at Kento.

"What's going on?" she asked, using her indoor voice.

Kento grinned wider. "Sekhmet is in the bathroom."

Robyn's face fell to that of unbelief. She admitted she was really board, but nothing would make her life so mundane that would make her find entertainment in watching for a man to come out of the bathroom.

"You lost me," she told him. "What are you doing?"

"Just watch," Kento instruction, and gestured her to keep silent.

She waited, thinking that she couldn't believe she was doing this, and saw the door open. The green haired man with the narrow eyes took one step out of the doorway, and tripped over the tiger. His reflexes seemed slow, because he didn't get his hand up quick enough to prevent his face from colliding with the opposite wall and sliding down a few inches.

The two of them quickly ducked their heads away, covering their mouths to suppress the laughter that erupted inside them. They both stopped and looked back when they heard the cries of the Ronin Warrior leader as he ran to the fallen Warlord and large tiger.

"White Blaze! I told you to leave him alone," Ryo scolded the enormous feline, shaking his finger at the whiskered face, which didn't seem to care or notice the strict words his master was telling him.

Meanwhile Sekhmet was given enough time to stand back up and straighten his clothes before While Blaze leaned against him, causing the Warlord to become unstable again. Then White Blaze continued to show his admiration for the green-haired man by licking his hand.

"White Blaze! Don't do that. You'll get poisoned!" Ryo shouted.

Sekhmet glared at Ryo, looking more offended by his words then what White Blaze was doing to him.

"Wildfire, please get him off me," Sekhmet said in his slow, angry sounding voice. He closed his eyes as if patience was running out.

"Okay, I'll try to hold him down for as long as I can. This time, go some place White Blaze can't go and stay there."

Ryo practically had to sit on the large cat's head while Sekhmet ran off to a secluded part of Rowen's house to have some peace.

"I should never have rescued that stupid feline," the snake like warrior muttered to himself.

Kento chuckled to himself as he walked into the Hashiba livingroom. "White Blaze has been at it all day. For some reason, he's attached himself to Sekhmet. Man, I wish Cye coulda seen it."

Robyn, laughing not as hard, followed Kento. They both went into the living room and sat down on the couch.

"Man, there's hardly anything to do around here," Kento whined. "Rowen doesn't even have any games. But I guess that's what happens when you're the only child and a nerd."

"Well, there's a lot of places that are walking distance. . ." Robyn tempted.

"Robyn, you know that you can't leave the house," Kento repeated the same thing that everyone else has been telling her a million times already, the only difference was that he had her face squished between his hands, and talked to her like an adult would a baby. "But that doesn't mean _I_ can't go."

"Jerk!" Robyn hissed, and pulled away from his grip. She pulled out one of the couch cushions to hit him with it.

"I was kidding," Kento yelled, trying to temper the abuse.

But Robyn continued to bombard him with direct hits with the cushion, her intent more playful than vindictive.

Kento, in turn, grabbed his own cushion and thus started a two-person war. Soon the pillows were dropped when Kento started tickling Robyn, which made her scream. The two didn't notice when the other residents poked their heads in to check that Robyn wasn't being eaten or something.

"Get a room you two," Rowen shouted at them from his room. He had lost too much sleep and had become spiteful because of it. And the fact that is wasn't him in the livingroom trying to cheer Robyn up.

Kento, more because he was afraid of hurting Robyn with her injuries from the previous night, stopped. Robyn, still laughing, hugged her sides and leaned up against Kento.

But Robyn stopped smiling once she felt Kento's body become stiff, and she looked up into his face to see that he wasn't smiling anymore. She looked to where he was looking, and saw the white-haired Warlord was passing through to the kitchen.

Since last night's argument between Dais and Kento, the two had been regarding each other with intense coldness. They each tried to find ways to get on each other's nerves with a snide comment hear, an insult there, or just bumping shoulders as they passed each other. No doubt Dais found Hardrock the perfect target in this situation to tread on his feet or run into his knees.

Ever since she had found out about their magical armors, Robyn hadn't liked the subtle changes she had seen in her friends when they had to fight. These warrior-like demeanors and expressions made her wonder if the Ronins were different boys than the ones she went with to school. Because of this, Robyn suddenly felt defensive over the young men and didn't want to see them become fighters.

As Dais came by, with an attitude no doubt to try to incite some sort of scuffle, Robyn stuck out her legs as far as she could.

The Bearer of Illusion had to stop and go around as Robyn followed him with her feet pointed toward him all the way. As she did this, she gave him a look that said, "Don't hurt my Kento."

Dais humored the young woman and ignored Hardrock.

Kento gave Robyn a look that said, "Nice," and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm going to have to keep you around me more often."

* * *

To temper Robyn's boardom, Kento started watching a movie. Halfway through it, he fell asleep, exhausted from the previous night's skirmish. About the time Kento was snoring, Ryo stumbled in, his hair tosseled from sleep and his eyes halfway open. He sat on the couch next to Robyn like a zombie, starring at the TV without knowing what he was seeing.

"Hey, Ryo," Robyn greeted, not looking at him at first.

The Bearer of Wildfire mumbled something.

Robyn turned and looked at him. "Are you okay?" she asked worried.

Ryo rubbed his eyes. "Tried to take a nap, but Rowen talks in his sleep."

Robyn gave him a sympathetic look. "You can sleep here. I'll turn down the TV."

Ryo looked like he was already doing so, his head starting to droop.

Pushing Kento more onto his side of the couch, Robyn tried to make room for Ryo. She grabbed one of the couch pillows, put it on her lap and patted it. Without any embarrassment or thinking, Ryo flopped his head down on the pillow.

The movie forgotten, Robyn's attention was on the raven-haired youth that was curled up on half the couch. She played with his thick hair while humming an old slow song she remembered from when she was little. She didn't realize it, but having these two young men sleeping around her was enough to calm her down, and not feel like she had cabin fever.

"You look comfortable."

Robyn looked around, and saw the purple haired young woman, Kayura, standing in one of the doorways. Kayura, to Robyn, seemed like a conundrum. She was young, younger than the Ronins, about thirteen or fourteen. But surrounding her youth she held the wisdom and experience of one who has fought in a battle and from the staff of the Ancient One.

Robyn smiled at the girl, and nodded.

Kayura walked over and squatted down in front of Robyn so that they could look each other in the eyes. "Can I ask you a question?" she asked with adult-like seriousness.

Robyn shrugged.

"Can I do your hair?"

"Huh?"

Kayura, more like a child now, grinned sheepishly. "Am I being too forward? I'm sorry, but you're the first girl I've been around for years, and I think your hair looks really pretty. Can I please play with it?"

The strangeness of the request made Robyn chuckle. "Sure. Go ahead. As you can see, I'm not going anywhere," Robyn said, looking at both Kento and Ryo.

Kayura clapped her hands, and went around the couch. Since it wasn't against a wall, she could stand behind it while brushing through the red strands with her fingers. "Uncle Dais usually lets me braid his hair, but for some reason he won't let me today."

Robyn laughed at that, picturing the white-haired Warlord with multiple braids that stuck out in all directions with pink bows at the end. Then her mental picture changed, and the older man's face and hair was replaced with her own pale complexion and red hair. She stopped laughing.

But despite that, she had fun; and she learned that underneath the exterior of the Warlady, there was a teenage girl just wanting a life. The Warlords were overprotective of her at times, and wouldn't let her go anywhere. And they sometimes talked about her future, something she didn't like for them to do since it was _her_ future.

Before, Robyn didn't feel very comfortable around these new armor bearers, and she wondered if they thought that she was a burden on them. But hearing the chatter of Kayura, she realized that the young girl was just a regular teenager who was starting to become interested in boys and each week was waiting for the weekends. And then maybe the Warlords were just regular men, thinking of their own futures and the possibilities that lay before them.

Dais, a sandwich in hand, came out of the kitchen, going the opposite way as before. He stopped in the middle of the room, and saw Kento sleeping away calmly. The Warlord of Illusion smirked, and whispered, "I see the little man is getting some shut eye. Wouldn't want him to wake up suddenly." He reached out with his hands mischievously, a joker's grin on his face.

"Don't you dare!" both Robyn and Kayura yelled at him, the former making sure not to upset either Kento or Ryo, and the later adding an "Uncle Dais" and giving him a ruthless glare.

Finding himself unmatched, Dais scampered away from the eyes of the two young women.

* * *

For a few minutes, Cye didn't have anything to do. The other residents of the house weren't bothering him to cook something else, and he had just snagged Cale for some clean up duty, which the Warlord of Darkness grudgingly complied.

Torrent, stretching his back, moved to the table with a hot cup of tea and a bowl of soup. At the table, Sage and Sekhmet were discussing strategies and plans for getting rid of the creature. Everyone had taken their turn at the brainstorming table, but Sage had been the most adamant. However, he didn't have his "game" on without Rowen to bounce ideas off of. Strata, weary from taking a blow to the head the night before, had tried his best to stay away, but lost the fight and retired earlier. Now, the three of them (four if you counted Cale's attempts to communicate over the noise of running water and scrubbing) discussed possible outcomes.

And so far, they all came up with nothing. Nothing, at least, that didn't involve Robyn.

"It doesn't matter what we do. It will come after the girl one way or another," Sekhmet said. "Our best shot is to wait for it to come to us. It'll come here, and try to get at her, and we'll catch it."

"No," Cye half-shouted. "It got away from us yesterday. If it gets away again, we may not make it to Robyn in time to stop it."

"Besides, how do you propose we catch it?" Sage asked calmly. "Last night proved that we can't contain it."

Cale, from his place in the kitchen, pounded the counter. "The net didn't hold, but I think I know why the creature was able to get out."

"I think your net was the whole problem in the first place," Sage growled at his nemesis. "That creature consumes darkness, so what makes your net different from a light snack for the creature."

Cale growled, and started to walk toward Sage in a threatening manner.

Sekhmet, not too fast or too slow, stood up and put a hand on his companion's shoulder. "Easy, Cale," he muttered, his beady eyes showing nothing but cool calm. Then he turned toward Sage. "Your logic isn't unfounded, Halo, and brings up some very good questions. But you forget that the armors are originally neither good nor evil. They are just empty armor until virtues and men filled them that made them swayed to either side."

"And whether you believe it or not, Halo, Cale is a good man."

They looked toward the kitchen door, and there was Kayura. She walked in.

"We don't know the specifics, but we know for a fact that Cale's darkness is very different from the creature's. So much so, that it seems to be the only thing that's been able to contain that monster for long." As the young girl said this, she sat down at the table.

"Where's Robyn?" Cye asked, knowing that the two girls were spending time together.

"She fell asleep," Kayura said with a yawn. "And no wonder. Sitting between Hardrock and Wildfire like that must be very comfortable. Just watching them made me tired."

Cye nodded, acting much like an over protective mother, making sure where his "child" was at all times.

"If I heard right, Cale you were talking about your net," Kayura inquired, looking up at one of her guardians.

Cale folded his arms and snorted. "If Halo would let me continue. . ." he growled, glaring at the blond. When he didn't get any protest, he began speaking again. "Two nights ago, we set up the net, and it was able to hold the creature, correct? Well, the only difference between then and last night was one day. I think that exposure to light weakens it, so the creature was able to get through it."

"So, we just need to make sure that every night, you make a new one," Sekhmet reasoned.

Cale nodded. "If we use it tonight, the creature will not be able to escape," he said firmly. "The only complications I can see is that maybe exposure to Halo also might weaken it."

"As it should," Sage whispered.

Cale heard this, and kicked the calm youth's chair, causing it to wobble. Sage had to swing his arms around to keep his balance.

"Stop it, children," Sekhmet told them without even looking up. "If what you say is true, Cale, that would mean that you and Halo need to play nice."

The two in question looked away from each other.

Cye looked at Sage. "Please, you two. Whatever plan we decide to go through with tonight, we need to cooperate as a team. There can't be any rivalries between us all," he said to Sage in particular.

Sage looked up at Cye, and realized something. Sekhmet had been in the kitchen for a very long time, and the two hadn't so much as given each other an evil eye or rude comment. They didn't talk to each other either, but they gave each other a quiet respect as if they both decided to put aside their past.

Sage knew of the hard time Cye had during the war with Talpa, and the battle strategy Sekhmet had used against him. It wasn't the easiest to go against the Warlord of Venom. So if Cye could let go of that for Robyn, he could too.

"Alright. I'll stay as far away from the net as I can. It is our one advantage, so we must not compromise it," Sage said, and looked up at Cale with his one peircing violet eye.

Kayura and Sekhmet looked up at Cale for him to accept Sage's willingness to help.

"Perhaps you should just leave Halo at home, pretty boy," Cale sneered.

Kayura slapped Cale's hand.

"Ow!"

"Oh, grow up. Yes, we need you to make that net, but we also need Halo. If we have any chance of destroying this creature, it is with him," Kayura yelled at the older man.

"You didn't see it, Cale," Sekhmet said, his eyes more narrowed than usual. "The creature feared Halo."

Kayura again pleaded with him. "We need you two to work together. No more fighting."

Cale snorted, stood up and started to leave. But before he left the room, he hesitated in the doorway a while. "That girl. Robyn. If it means her safety, I'll even put up with Halo," he said softly, without even turning around. He stood there, as if waiting for a reply, but didn't recieve any. Then he left.

Sage wondered at the retreating backside. The way he talked about Robyn, he acted as if the young woman was familiar to him. What did Cale think about Robyn? When the two first met, Cale couldn't stop staring at Robyn. Sage felt as if there was something else going on, something critical and secret. It made him weary.

The Bearer of Halo leaned over and whispered to the only other Ronin in the room, "Cale is unpredictable. Even if he's willing to work with us, we can't trust him. I think we need to. . ."

Sekhmet cleared his throat loudly. "If you are discussing one of our team, I suggest you share," he said coldly.

Sage, for once, looked intimidated. But Halo hardly lets his mask slip for more than a few seconds, and quickly righted himself. "I would like to discuss with you the integrity of Cale."

Kayura moaned, and looked like she wanted to strangle someone. "I've had enough with Cale and talking about him."

"You've told us everything about the creature, then?" Sage said somewhat rudely. "Cye told us that last night, your group was held up because of Cale."

Cye nodded, and looked Kayura in the eyes. "You told us it was nothing, but it seems more than that," Cye said.

"And Rowen has said that Cale's been trying to turn him against me, something that seems like he's gone back to his old ways," Sage accused.

Kayura glared at Sage, and looked like she was becoming defensive of Cale. "Uncle Cale isn't like that."

Sekhmet, in his cool way, added, "This isn't something we should be discussing now. At least not while Cale is so close by."

Kayura looked surprised, almost offended about what Sekhmet said.

But Sekhmet just looked up at Kayura, and told her, "You cannot deny that Cale is acting a bit stranger with Halo around. The Ronins aren't the only ones who are worried about our protege."

Kayura slowly nodded with understanding, the more adult part of her taking over. "Yes, then I also agree that this should be discussed when Cale is away."

"So how do we get him out of the house?" Cye asked.

Sage told them he had an idea, and told them about it.

Torrent shook his head. "No. We're not going to involve Robyn in this."

"She'll be perfectly safe," Kayura told Cye. "One thing I know for sure is that Uncle Cale won't let anything happen to Robyn."

"How concerned," Sage muttered. "And besides, we're not letting them go alone. One Ronin will go with them."

"Who?"

* * *

"Hey, Rowen. Wake up."

Strata moaned, rolled over on his stomach with his face in the pillow, and went back to sleep.

"Rowen, you need to get up. It's very important," Sage tried again.

The only response he got was soft snores.

Sage sighed, and leaned closer so he could talk to his friend in his ear. "How would you like to go on a date with Robyn?"

For once in his life, Rowen became wide awake in mini seconds, a big grin on his face looking around. "Date? What? Sage, what are you doing in my room?" he asked confused.

"Hurry up and get dressed," Sage told him with a smile.

* * *

"Robyn?"

The whispered voice slowly brought the young girl back into consciousness. She had a short nap, but that was enough to make her feel refreshed so she was willing to wake up.

"Robyn," the voice said again as she yawned and slowly brought the blue and flesh-colored blob into focus.

She opened up her eyes all the way, and smiled. "Hey, Rowen," she said lazily. She wanted to stretch, but with Kento leaning against her it wouldn't be possible.

"Hey, Robyn," Rowen replied, his entire face showing restrained joy. "Do you want to get out of here?"

Robyn looked up at him confused. "Like outside? But I'm not suppose to."

"It's okay. Everyone agreed that it would be safe enough for you to go out. There aren't any clouds out, and it's noon so the sun is at its strongest," Rowen explained the technical reasons.

Robyn brightened up at that, but looked to her right and to her left. "I'm a little stuck right now," she told him.

Rowen held up his right index finger showing he had a plan. "Just leave it to me." He ran off quickly, coming back leading Cye by the shoulders.

"What do you want Rowen? What's going on?" Cye asked, giving Rowen a suspicious look.

"I just need you to do something for Robyn. Okay, hold Kento up. Robyn, stand up and hold up Ryo's head. Great, now you can sit down Cye."

The British young man, wondering what Rowen was up to, did exactly as he was told only to get a lap full of Ryo's head and Kento drooling on his shoulder. "Wha?" Cye cried out, horrified by being so close to two men, feeling his masculinity crawl around him to escape the scene.

Robyn just smiled. "Thanks a bunch, Cye." She leaned down, and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye."

Cye was livid as he watched the two scamper away like two naughty kids. He didn't know it was _Rowen_ that was taking Robyn out.

"Yay, freedom," Robyn cried out, flinging the door open to welcome the sunshine.

"Hold it," a calm cool voice ordered.

Robyn stopped, her arms flopping to her sides and her face was contorted into a silent moan.

It was the beady-eyed Sekhmet who had said so, with a confused Cale in tow. "You forgot your chaperone."

Rowen echoed Robyn's expression. His dreams of going out on the town with Robyn _alone_ was shot. This must have been the catch.

"Wha?" Cale looked from Sekhmet to Rowen to Robyn, his face a completion of bafflement. "Chaperone?"

"The girl needs new clothes since she can't go back to her house to get any. And frankly she's driving some of us crazy. She needs to get out and get some exercise," Sekhmet told Cale, giving Robyn a wink.

Robyn felt gratitude toward the Warlord for giving her this chance to leave for a while.

"You can take your time, but just be back well before dark," Sekhmet told them and started pushing all three out the door.

"Wait a minute. . ." Cale protested and pushed back. "I don't think tha. . ."

"Cale, look at the girl. She wants out of the house. She been cooped up all morning," Sekhmet said, using a more gentle voice. "Do you really want to dash her hopes by telling her she can't go. Because she isn't leaving without you."

At that, Robyn turned to the Warlord of Darkness, her eyes beseeching him to comply.

Cale looked as if he were having some sort of inner struggle with the situation. He turned to Sekhmet with narrowed eyes, and whispered in a gravelly voice, "You've been hanging around Dais too long. You're catching his tongue."

Sekhmet shrugged and smirked. "Try to have fun for once, Cale. Bye-bye." With that, he shoved all three unceremoniously out the door.

* * *

Rowen brooded as he walked side by side with Robyn. He was glad to spend some time with her, but he really wanted to be alone with her. The presence of the third person who followed quietly behind them ruined any chance of him talking with her. But Rowen wasn't the only one brooding.

Cale, hands deep in his jacket pockets, thought dark thoughts about Sekhmet and muttered to himself.

Robyn, on the other had, was happier than a basket of kittens to be out. Even with her near death experience last night, she needed some time to relax and recharge herself. And she knew exactly where to go.

"Dairy Queen!" she exclaimed as the sign came into view. "Come on. I need some sugar." After they went into the restaurant, she told them, "Get what you want. I'm buying."

Rowen only ordered a cup with one scoop of chocolate, not wanting to get anything big.

"I'll have the chocolate brownie blast shake," Robyn said happily, practically drooling over the title.

"Watching your weight, I see," Rowen commented sarcastically.

"Screw you. It's really good," Robyn told him with a small smile.

"Is that everything?" the cashier asked after a slight pause.

"What do you want?" Robyn asked the older man who had never spoken to her directly.

Cale looked over the menu with a stoic face, and then said, "I'll have what she's having."

Robyn paid, and they waited for their desserts in silence. When they sat at the table, Robyn was relishing the shake, putting large spoonfuls in her mouth.

Rowen ate his with less gusto then his friend, and Cale hadn't touched his yet, but just starred at the young woman across from him.

Robyn felt his eyes on her, and looked up at him. "Uh, do you like it?" she asked, hoping talking would snap the man out of his trance.

Cale blinked a little and picked up the spoon. After swallowing, his eyes opened wider and he looked into the ice-cream. "Hey, this has brownie pieces in it."

"And chocolate pieces," Robyn told him, consuming another mouthful.

"Mmmm, this is good," Cale said with more emotion than he had expressed in the past few days.

Robyn smiled, and took a good look at the man now shoving ice-cream into his mouth at a faster pace. As she did, some part of her brain felt disoriented, as if she had a deja vu moment "Hey, h-have we met before?" she asked, unsure of herself.

Cale looked up at her, his spoon hanging from his hand in mid flight to his mouth. His eyes met her for a moment, as if something connected in his mind. Then he closed his eyes, and smiled slightly. "No. No, I don't think we have."

"Are you sure?" Robyn asked, her voice a little more confident.

"During your entire lifetime, I was in the nether realm serving my ex-master, Talpa," Cale explained.

"Oh," Robyn relinquished. She bit her bottom lip in thought, trying to think of where she had seen him, even though he just proved it impossible.

Rowen, a little upset he was being left out, slipped his spoon into Robyn's shake and popped it in his mouth. "Hey, that brownie stuff tastes really good."

"Hey, this is mine," Robyn protested, moving her cup further away from the ice-cream thief. "You have your own."

"But it's small and not as good as yours," Rowen complained, using his long arms to reach for the shake. "Let me have a little more, please."

"No. Just because you choose a lame ice-cream, doesn't mean I have to suffer," Robyn half-yelled at him.

"C'mon, don't be greedy," Rowen persisted, but stopped when he felt pressure on his cup. He turned to see Cale's spoon swiping a bite of his chocolate, and putting it in his mouth.

"He's right, Robyn. His sucks. Give him some," Cale told the girl, turning back to his own cup.

Rowen gave the Warlord a cold look since almost half of the remaining scoop had been taken by the man.

"I want to try," Robyn said, taking the last of the chocolate.

"Wha-Hey!" Rowen said as he tried to prevent losing the last of his ice-cream, but was too slow. "Now, you have to give me some."

"Here," Robyn muttered, moving her cup closer.

"Thanks," Cale said, helping himself to a spoonful.

"Hey," Robyn and Rowen said at the same time.

"What's the deal?" Robyn said to the older man's face. "You have the same thing that I have."

"I'm done," Cale said, showing his empty cup. "It was tasty. Thanks."

Robyn stared wide-eyes at the empty plastic cup, wondering how he could eat it so quickly. "Well, that's the last time I treat any of you," she told them, pointing her spoon at both of them.

* * *

"Come on guys. We're having a meeting," Sage said, passing the remaining Ronins that were on the couch. He jostled the ones that were asleep. "Get up."

Ryo muttered something and sat up. At the same time, Kento snorted awake. Both turned to their "pillow" hoping to see a smiling face that would give them a cheerful "good morning." Instead, Cye's grumpy frown glared at them.

"Ah!" Kento screamed, and moved away quickly.

Ryo rolled backward, clutching at his couch pillow in defense.

"Where did Robyn go?" Kento said in a sad voice.

Cye turned his head slowly to him. "She went out. With Rowen."

"Come on, you guys. Ge the lead out," Sage ordered, popping his head out of the kitchen. "Hurry up."

Ryo, still looking a bit sleepy, said, "What's going on? Huh?"

"We need to discuss Cale," Cye told them in an unusually grumpiness.

Ryo and Kento were then pacified by that, and followed their fellow Ronins. When they went in, the Warlords and Kayura were already set around the small table. With seven seating around a table that usually sits two, they were a little crowded.

"So, this is about Cale," Dais muttered, looking not too pleased at the subject. "What has he done now?"

"We just want a few questions answered," Sage told him.

"I'm not going to talk to him again," Kayura said, folding her arms in determination.

Sage cleared his throat. "You said that you would discuss with us what happened last night. You, Cye and Cale were heading to the Mouri house, and something happened. Cye told me Cale collapsed. It happened just when he was in a close proximity to the creature. I know that Cale and this creature has some sort of connection, and you're hiding it from us. I want the truth, now." Like stone, Sage looked like he wouldn't give until he had what he wanted.

"The truth is just as you said, Halo," Sekhmet volunteered to explain. "As you know, Cale's armor belongs to the element of darkness, the same as the creature. Because of this, Cale reacts when he gets close to the creature. Cale doesn't like to admit it, but the creature causes him to be in a lot of pain. That's why he collapsed. He wouldn't talk about it with us, so we can only speculate that the armor refuses to be near the creature."

"And does the creature also react to him?" Kento asked, hoping for a weakness in this new enemy.

"As far as we know, it doesn't have any effect on the creature," Sekhmet answered the question. "However, we do know that the creature refuses to get any closer to Cale, as if it were afraid of him. Sometimes it would go beyond any means to stay away from Cale."

Sage closed his eyes, taking in all this new information.

"What are you thinking?" Ryo asked, knowing the face that Sage wore. His friend had a plan.

"I think I have an idea that can give us an advantage over this thing," Sage told them. "I've been thinking about it for a while, and it has a few holes. But I think that it's going to work. I want to run it by you before everyone. It's a good thing Robyn is gone, because I don't want to scare her."

Dais smiled. "Keeping a secret from someone is very deceptive. I didn't think you had it in you," he said with a smirk.

"This isn't time for one of your games, Uncle Dais," Kayura scolded the older man.

"Uncle Dais," Ryo and Kento whispered to each other and giggled like school children.

Dais glared at the two, his facing showing malcontent at his mockers.

"Ah, now you've embarrassed him, Kayura," Sekhmet told the girl, and rubbed her head.

"But I've always called him Uncle Dais," she said innocently, but her smile wasn't.

Dais cleared his throat. "That's enough joking. Let's listen to Halo's plan," Dais growled.

"Okay, Uncle Dais," Kento said to Ryo so nobody could hear, the two giggling.

* * *

"Sweet. Its Dance Dance Revolution," Robyn said, pointing to the arcade. "Let's play, okay?"

"Aw, Robyn," Rowen said. "I'm not good at that game. I don't have any eye-foot coordination."

The three were wondering around in the Toyama mall, and had passed the arcade. Because it was a school day, there weren't as many kids around and the game was free of people.

"Please, Rowen. Just a few songs, and we'll do something else."

Rowen sighed.

"I'll do it."

But Rowen wasn't the one to utter those words. He instead turned to see Cale, walking past him to the game system.

"But you're going to have to teach me how," Cale told her.

"Sure, it's really easy," Robyn told him.

Cale turned his head, and gave Rowen a huge grin.

Rowen gawked at the Warlord, not only because the sneaky smile, but also the way he had been acting all day. Rowen couldn't believe this was the same guy. Yesterday, he never smiled or showed any more emotion than the anger he directed toward Sage, but now he was goofing around and smiling happily around Robyn. Rowen narrowed his eyes, wondering what kind of intentions Cale had in mind about Robyn.

"So you just put your foot on the arrows when it shows it on the screen. Ready. . . GO!"

Robyn bounced around on her metal dance square, watching the arrows on the screen in front of her.

"I'm pushing, but it's booing at me," Cale protested, trying his hardest to play.

"No, you have to wait until the arrows are at the top," Robyn told him.

Cale glanced over at Robyn's screen and was surprised that there were more arrows than on his screen. "You're really good at this."

"Don't worry. It's just your first time. You get better the more you play. Watch this," Robyn said, and she jumped and did a twirl. But she missed few arrows during her trick and laughed as she almost fell down.

"Oh, you think that's good," Cale warned her as he bent down onto his knees and tried to play. During this time, his screen starting flashing red. "Ow, that really hurts your knees." He groaned as he stood up.

"That's the end. Let's see how you did."

The screens changed and showed them their scores.

"Yes, I got a B. I'm great," Robyn cheered. "And you got a D. That's good for your first time."

"Whoa, I'm done," Cale grunted as he stepped off. "I'm getting too old."

"But we still have two more songs," Robyn told him.

"I'll pass," Cale waved her off. "But I think that Rowen wants a turn." He pushed the blue-haired boy nearer to the game. "I'm just going to sit over there. Play however long you want."

When Cale was out of earshot, Rowen said, "That was weird."

"What was?"

"Cale. He's been acting weird all day."

"I think he's nice," Robyn told him, and picked a song on the game. "He seems really familiar, and I'm sure I know him from somewhere. But I can't think of where. It's like finding a lost brother."

Rowen raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn't look as him since she was busy playing. "But that's it. He's acting nice. Yesterday he was practically tearing off Sage's head and freakin' me out. I just don't get it."

"I think you're just jealous that he was better than you at DDR," Robyn told him, nudging him with her elbow.

"Hey, stop it," he told her in mock seriousness, and pushed her off of her dance machine.

"Oh, you'll pay for messin' up my game," she told him, and jumped back on.

Rowen continued to try and mess up Robyn's score while still pressing his few arrows, but Robyn had the advantage of knowing where Rowen's ticklish spot was, and was able to claim victory with her C over Rowen's failed grade.

"Are you guys done?" Cale asked, when they came to his bench. "We've been gone for quite a while, so we should go back."

"But I need to buy some clothes," Robyn told them.

"Ah, can't you do that another day. I'm tired," Rowen told her, whining like a kid. His head was starting to throb where he hit it last night.

"Well, I'd like to, but some creature with enormous powers just destroyed my room and all of my clothes. I'd like to get a few new ones, but since you're tired I guess I can wear these for a couple more days."

"Fine, but hurry up," Rowen told her, following her to a clothing store.

As Robyn went digging around for clothes to satisfy her needs, Cale and Rowen stood out in the mall area to wait. Rowen leaned against one of the directories, and Cale put his hands in his jacket pockets and looked in the clothing store at Robyn. Rowen noticed this and opened his mouth.

"Hey man, what's your deal?" he asked suspiciously. "Yesterday you act so paranoid about Sage, but today you're Mr. Pleasant."

"What's your point?" Cale said in a monotone. "If I'm angry, you complain; if I'm happy you complain. What do you want me to do?"

"I don't have anything against you being happy," Rowen told him. "But Robyn's my friend, and I won't let anyone hurt her."

"Whatever your perverse little mind is thinking, it isn't what it seems," Cale shot at him. "She just reminds me of someone I use to know."

Rowen was again surprised by Cale's behavior, since he spoke that last line with tenderness that he didn't think was in the Warlord.

"She must be someone special, to be able to smile like that after an ordeal like yesterday," Cale said, turning back to watch her. "She's very precious to you, isn't she?"

Rowen smiled a little embarrassed. "Yes, she is." It bothered him that his feelings for Robyn were so obvious to everyone except for the one he wanted to know. As he was thinking about Robyn, he also thought about what Cale said. "This person who Robyn reminds you of, were they also precious to you?"

Cale looked up at Rowen with a strange look in his eyes. He looked at Rowen for a while a nodded. "Yes. Yes, she was."

"What happened to her?" Rowen asked.

Cale's eyes lowered. "I failed her," he said sadly, as if it just happened. "I promised to protect her. But I failed her. I trusted her with someone I thought was my friend, but he let her die. He stood by and let her be killed. He could have saved her, but he didn't." Cale grew passionate as he talked, and then looked up at Rowen then back at Robyn.

Rowen waited a minute, licked his lips and asked, "Who was your friend?"

Cale didn't say anything, but gave Rowen a dark glance.

"Who was your friend?" Rowen tried again. "He was a Bearer of Halo, right? Am I right?"

Cale's eye widened at Rowen's guess, and a touch of worry crossed his face as Rowen continued.

"You blame the death of that girl on your friend, who was a Halo. And now you're still so angry that you've blamed all the Halos after your friend. Dais told me that you've always targeted the men who wore Halo, and that's why your attacking Sage," Rowen half-yelled at the older man.

"You don't know anything," Cale spat at Rowen, scowling at the Bearer of Strata. "You don't know me or anything you are talking about."

"I think I do, at least the outline. I can see it on your face," Rowen told him confidently.

"You can think what you like, boy, but there is a large part that you don't know about," Cale told him. "I swear that Halo will cause you to suffer if you aren't cautious."

"Quit confusing Sage with your friend," Rowen told him angrily. "You're obviously not right in the head, and have been carrying this grudge all these years and displaced it on every Halo you've met. You have got to stop this."

"Don't psychoanalyze me," Cale spat, turning away from the Ronin.

Rowen waited for more, and when nothing came he asked, "Just let me know one more thing. What happened to your friend?" Rowen watched Cale's silent back. "What happened to him? Did you take your revenge on him?"

"NO! No, I didn't," Cale shouted shakily, then continued more calmly. "No, matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't. M-my armor wouldn't let me."

"Your armor?"

"Yes, my armor. It wouldn't let me take my revenge. My virtue is. . .Loyalty. It wouldn't let me be disloyal to my friendships," Cale muttered, his voice sounding raspy. His breathing sounded labored and he held his head. "Please, no more. My head hurts. It's hard for me to remember. Please, no more." Cale put his hands against his face, and kept them there until Robyn came out of the store. His face was composed back into the stoic expression he favored, and didn't say anything else on the way back to the house.

* * *

"Sage, this isn't a good idea," Cye told Sage, worry written all over his face. "I don't think we should go through with it."

"But it's our best shot, Cye," Sage told him.

"But that doesn't mean it's our only shot," Cye argued. "There's got to be another way. A way that won't involve Robyn."

"I'm with Cye," Kento agreed. "This is our fight, not hers."

"Whither we like it or not, the girl is involved," Dais reasoned. "We know for sure that the creature is after her, and it may not come out unless it is for her."

"She can't be the only one it needs. It may come out for others," Cye rationalized.

"Then what? We let them risk their lives without knowing it? What happens if we get there too late?" Sekhmet almost yelled. "Do you have the right to let them die because you're not willing to take a chance? We have an advantage and it is our obligation to take it."

Cye lowered his head. "It just doesn't feel right."

Sage put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "Don't worry. If Robyn doesn't agree, we won't force her."

"Force me to do what?" Robyn asked as she stepped into the room, her hands full of shopping bags, followed by Cale and Rowen.

The room was quiet as the answer hung in the air. Everyone looked to the originator of the plan.

Sage straightened his back and started to explain. "We think we have an idea that will get rid of that creature you met last night," Sage told her. "But, in order for the plan to work, we need a way to lure the demon out into the open. You don't have to do this if you don't want to."

Whatever Sage was getting at, Robyn figured it out and froze. She felt a shiver go down her spine and she looked at the group sitting at the table. "Y-you want me to be the bait," she said slowly, her throat tense and dry.

"Robyn, we'll be there nearby. There's enough of us that the creature won't even get near enough to touch you," Sage reassured her. "Someone will be right by your side the entire time."

"That's if you agree," Cye told Sage and stood up. He took Robyn's shoulders. "If there's any doubt or worry about this, you don't have to do it. We can find a different way. Don't feel obliged to help us."

"I-I need to think about this," Robyn said in the same slow tone. She made her way out of the room, and they heard a door open and close somewhere in the house.

"What demented," Cale started to say in a low voice but soon raised in volume, "mind possessed them to consider such an idiotic plan!"

"Wha-" Sage tried to protest but Cale grabbed his shirt collar.

"Halo! There is no way I'm going to let you endanger that girl."

"Robyn won't be. . ."

"It's just like you to plan this reckless act behind my back. I won't let you make me a fool."

"You've already done that yourself."

The two were ready to start fighting physically when Sekhmet and Ryo stepped in a pulled the two away. Both rivals were still glaring each other down as their comrades forced them to sit down and be quiet.

There was quiet among the armor bearers that made everyone uncomfortable. The air seemed almost to revert back to the time when they were on different sides.

Rowen, remembering something, and gestured to the other Ronins. "I need to tell you guys something," he said as they all gathered around him.

The Warlords and Kayura noticed their group huddle, and tried to ignore them. Cale sent them all an dark look.

Rowen began to explain what happened that day and what Cale had said to him while the two of them were alone. When he was finished, everyone was silent.

"So, what do you think?" Rowen asked, looking around at their faces. He stopped on Sage's.

Sage thought for a while and said, "Something doesn't add up."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Rowen agreed.

"But what? Is he hiding something?" Ryo asked suspiciously.

Sage and Rowen both sat in silence, their brains working over what they knew. Sage was the one who lifted his head.

"I think I know," he said, and turned around. "Kayura," he called out to the young woman. "Come here, please."

The girl, trying to talk to her brooding "uncles", walked over to them. "Geez, you guys. You're not making this easy to keep you and the Warlord as allies," she protested.

"Sorry," Ryo apologized, looking embarrassed.

"We were just discussing if we need to consider Cale's opposition to the plan. We need to know if he'll help if it goes through. We'll need everyone for this," Sage told her.

Kayura pursed her lips. "Um, I guess he would. He's had some disagreements with all of us, but he's stayed with the majority of the decisions."

"And would you say he has a strong sense of loyalty to all of you?" Sage asked, looking up at her. "Since his virtue is loyalty."

Kayura frowned. "I think you're mistaken. My armor has the virtue of loyalty. Cale's is obedience. They're a lot alike, so they can be mixed up."

The Ronins looked at her as one, and she noticed their rapt attention, and frowned even more.

"That clears up a lot," Sage told her. "Thanks Kayura."

"No problem," she muttered, eying all of them strangely and left.

"So he lied," Rowen murmured sourly. "But why would he lie about that?"

Sage leaned against his interlocked hands. "Well, he said that his virtue wouldn't let him take his revenge because he had a sense of loyalty for his friend. But since his armor isn't loyalty, then he's either hiding the real reason he didn't take his revenge, or he's lying about not taking his revenge."

"In either case, he's hiding something big. Something that would change the way we would treat him or reveal some sort of hidden agenda," Rowen hypothesized.

"So, what do we do?" Kento asked.

"Right now, we don't do anything," Ryo told them. "We don't know Cale's reason for saying what he did."

"But we also can't trust Cale anymore," Sage whispered to them all, glancing over at the Warlord. "Ryo, we can't let him out of our sights. From now on, we must treat him like an enemy."

Ryo looked into Sage's eyes, and nodded slightly.

Just then, a female voice called all of their attention to the redhead who just entered the room.

"Um, guys, I made my decision," Robyn told them all, fingering one of her sleeves. "I thought about everything that you've done for me, and how much you all suffered to protect me. I felt that if you needed me to help you in any way, I'd do it. I'll do what you wanted me to do."

The nine armor bearers all heard, but not all of them liked what was said. Some agreed to what was said, others knew it was something that needed to be done but didn't like it and other felt their guts twisting inside as the word fell out of her mouth. One, however, listened wide eyes. His face drained of blood, and clutched at the left side of his face.


	6. Chapter 5: The Fight Against Darkness

* * *

Changes in Destiny

Changes in Destiny  
Chapter 5: The Fight Against Darkness  
By Hatashi Kitty A.K.A Emilou

Bodies bustled all over the small house, running from one end to the other, making preparations for the trap they were going to set. Most kept running to the kitchen where Cye was making dinner, either to hassle him over the food and when it will be ready or to ask him questions about that night. Not to mention, everyone would try to get an hour or two more time to sleep whenever they felt like it, curling up in a corner or just dropping in the middle of a hallway as White Blaze would often do. With so many people in the house, Rowen had a hard time making sure everyone was getting what they needed. He was the most busy, since everyone was asking if he had such-n-such an item or where they could find whatever they needed. After helping Cye look for food items (which he asked for something new every two minutes), and getting out more blankets to droop over a sleeping Ryo or Kayura, he was finally able to have some time to himself. With everyone situated, he went searching for the one person he really wanted to see, but she seemed to be nowhere in the house.

He went to the back door, and looked out the small door window, and saw her long red hair floating in the breeze, her back to him. He could hear her voice, a muffled normal tone. He couldn't understand what she was saying, but he thought it weird. Then he heard a male voice talk to her. He couldn't see anyone else outside since the window was very small, but he recognized it as Cale's. It sounded as if he was leaning against the house right next to the door. The thought of Cale talking to Robyn made Rowen angry. Ever since he found out the Warlord lied to him, Rowen couldn't help but see Cale as a threat. Cale was either lying to hide some dark secret about his past, or he was completely delusional and was reliving his past with Robyn in it. Either way, Rowen didn't want Robyn to be with him alone. As he was turning the knob, the door suddenly moved quickly toward him. He had to quickly sidestep it before it slammed into his face.

Cale stepped inside, his face hard and disapproving. He looked at Rowen with a dark look, as if he was an ignorant child that just asked an inappropriate question. With an angry sign, he looked away and strode into the house to find a dark corner to brood.

"Oh, hey Rowen," Robyn called, seeing him just beyond the doorway. "Is dinner ready?"

Rowen was a little stunned by Cale's dark look that it took him a while to recover. "Uh, no. I think Cye's trying to go all out on this dinner, wanting to make something special for all of us. And also to keep his mind off of. . ."

Robyn understood what he meant as he trailed off. She moved aside so that Rowen could lean against the rail with her as he stepped out. "I feel kind of bad because I don't feel like eating," Robyn told him. "I guess I'm a little scared." Her voice trembled as she said it.

In one swift movement, Rowen pulled the girl into a hug, wrapping both arms around her. She sounded so quiet and small that he didn't even think about it.

Robyn put her head on his chest, letting the Ronin comfort her. More than anything she wanted someone to do this for her, to be right there with her. But she couldn't have asked any of them for it, not when they were so busy and drained as they were.

"Don't worry, Robyn. I'll be there to protect you," Rowen whispered to her. "I won't let anything happen to you, I'll keep you safe."

"But what about you guys?" Robyn muttered into his shirt. "If all of you are worried about me, who will look after you? I don't want any of you to get hurt."

Rowen pulled her gently away, enough that they could look each other in the eyes. "Don't worry about us. We have our armors to keep us safe. Nothing is going to happen to us."

"That's not what Cale said," Robyn cried out, and looked down instantly.

"What did Cale say to you?" Rowen asked, sensing her hesitation. "Tell me, please. What did Cale tell you?"

Robyn touched her forehead as if it hurt and looked away. "He said. . .A lot of what he said didn't make sense. He said something about Sage that I don't know. But mainly he was trying to persuade me not to go through with Sage's plan. And it scared me what he said. He said that if I go, all of you will be hurt, and your armors couldn't save you from the pain." Tears filled her eyes, but refused to fall, and she gripped Rowen's arms. "I'm so afraid. I want to help, but I'm so afraid for you guys." She put her face back into Rowen's chest, letting his shirt soak up her tears before they fall, and held onto him.

Rowen leaned down so that his mouth was nearer to Robyn's ear. "Then let us protect you. Let ME protect you," he said, emphasizing his words. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. Don't feel obligated to do anything. You don't have to be afraid. I promise I'll always be here to protect you."

Robyn stopped sobbing as she realized Rowen wasn't referring to the whole group of Ronins but just of himself.

Rowen hugged her tighter, not wanting her to see his face or see hers. He didn't want to see her expression in case it gave something away he didn't want to see.

"This is all I want from you, this is all the help I ask. Please, let me be near you so I can save you if you need me. Let me be there for you if you need someone to hold you like this. Let me be by your side if you don't feel strong enough. That's all the help I need from you, just being with you is enough. I like you, Robyn."

Rowen's checks burned slightly, wondering if he had just made a fool of himself. He had spouted out his feelings without even thinking, but he didn't let go of Robyn, nor did he want to.

"Why now?" a muffled voice said from below his chin. "Why now of all times are you telling me this?" Robyn demanded lifting her face out of his shirt to look at him. She pulled away from his arms, but she didn't look angry. She felt confused and afraid, but not the same fear she felt before. "Why now when so much is going so fast that it's making me sick? Why now when I'm so scared and feel so powerless and weak next to all of you? I'm so dazed and confused that I don't know how to react to that. So tell me, why now, Rowen?"

The question startled Rowen. It sounded as if Robyn knew of his feelings that he had been harboring for a while, and thought she was asking, "Why not before now?" He lowered his head and his shoulders sagged as he asked himself the same question. Why at this moment did he finally have enough courage? Did he think he wouldn't have another chance after today?  
"Because," he started in a whisper, "I feel just about as vulnerable and afraid as you do. This ordeal isn't any easier on any of us than it is on you. I can understand if you don't accept me or if you don't give me an answer right now." Rowen's knees felt a little weak when he said that last line. The thought of being rejected horrified him, but he continued on. "The reason I asked now instead of before or later, is because I've never felt so weak before. I'm not just asking you to let me be there for you, but I need you too. I want someone to hold me as well."

There was silence between them as they stood still, pondering over what had been said.

Robyn looked up at him with such a sad face. "I never knew," she said quietly. "All of you guys seemed so strong that I didn't think you needed me." She gently took his hand in both of hers and smiled up at him. "That's what I wanted, too."

Rowen's heart beat faster and it took his brain some time to register what she said. He felt numb except for the hand the was held in hers. He matched her smile more out of relief than anything else. Suddenly, his body was bursting with energy and happiness, and he needed to do something before he combusted. With a burst of laughter, he grabbed Robyn around the waist, and spun her around in the air.

Expecting everything but that, Robyn screamed and hung onto Rowen's head. Blush spread across her face as she felt his forehead against her cheek and his nose and breath against her neck. She could hear his joyous laughter in her ear and felt his shoulders move from laughing. When her feet were back on the ground, she was laughing as well, her arms still around the warrior's neck.

"Robyn, I. . ."

"Hey, come an' eat."

Rowen stopped in mid-sentence when the door open and Cye, unceremoniously, announced that dinner was ready.

"Hurry up, everyone's waiting."

Rowen glowered at the young man that ruined his time with Robyn, but felt bad after since Cye looked so tired and worried.

But Cye didn't even notice, he just shut the door as quietly as he opened it. Rowen expected to get some sort of comment or look from him.

"I guess we should go in," Robyn told Rowen, also somber after seeing Cye, as if stepping in a different world than the one they were in a while ago. She felt Rowen squeeze her hand, to remind her that he was there for her. Then she went inside.

Both of them were surprised when they met two faces nearby the door. They were blocking the path to the dinning area. One face showed the ever present stoic expression, the other was trying to match his companion but his mouth twitched as if trying not to smile. This reaction proved Rowen's theory that both Kento and Sage had been watching through the small door window.

"So, you finally did it?" Sage asked even though he bore witness to the scene. "It's about time you did. I didn't think you'd ever go through with it."

Kento, trying to keep a straight face, grabbed Robyn's hands and held them up. "Please, take very good care of our Rowen."

"You're timing isn't the greatest though," Sage continued, ignoring Kento. "But you never had a sense of ambience."

By this time, Kento was now stiffling some laughter.

"Since you guys saw, does Cye know?" Rowen asked, hoping Torrent was too tired to realize what was going on.

Kento chuckled. "Go see for yourself," he said pointing toward the kitchen.

Rowen and Robyn went into the kitchen. Rowen was surprised to see Cye sharpening one of the large kitchen knives, glaring at the taller young man.  
Robyn chuckled as well.

"I feel like I'm meeting the parents," Rowen muttered, feeling the day's work on his muscles.

"I'm sure Cye would be worse than my parents," Robyn told him, poking him with her elbow.

Rowen put his hand on his chin in mock concentration. "You have a point. Can I go back?"

"No, you can't," Robyn told him, smirking up at him.

"Hey, guys," Ryo called out, stretching as he came in. "What's going on? What did I miss?"

* * *

The metal beams of the naked building structure looked like the ancient skeleton of a monestrous beast shadowed against the waning sunlight. Large cranes, backhoes and other construction machines were parked in one corner of the site while in another was littered all the crates and barrels that came with it. Right in the middle, surrounding the steel beams was a giant hole, which held the foundation of the building. Looking down, the archtect of this building was planning on several basement floors that would be below ground, whether they would be for storage or a parking lot, only time would tell. But in the shadow of the land, it looked like a gapping pit that would swallow anyone up. At the bottom of the pit was a smoothed layer of concrete, the beginnings of a magnificent building. There were street laps and large lights hooked up to generators all around the site, so that the workers had the choice of working at night if there was a need. But in the beautiful sunset, there was enough light to see by.  
But all could see that their shadows were growing by the minute; a warning that night was coming.

Kento looked around the construction equipment with a scowl. A few years ago, he had been in a place much like this, trying to fight his rival from the Dynasty. He looked over at the Warlord of Illusion, wondering if he had chosen this place to toy with Kento's mind as he did in the "good ol' days." Dais was looking at him as well, as if he was thinking the same thing. The corner of the older man's mouth turned up as he spoke.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it Hardrock," the one-eyed warrior scoffed.

Kento clenched his teeth. "Yeah it does. It reminds me what a coward you are, using your others to fight your battles."

Dais's smile widened. "That's looser talk, little man. It's what I expect from such a weakling."

"Perhaps you'd like to settle this right now," Kento shouted at him. Since he was already in his armor, his threat seemed menacing enough.

Dais glared at him, his eye like a deadly anathema directed toward the Ronin. "I would if I saw any challenge in it."

Kento raised his weapon, ready to finish the fight that happened two years ago. But it never happened when a red and white hand pressed down on his shoulder.

"This isn't the time, Kento," Ryo told his friend, taking the role as leader once again.

Kento frowned like a child who was told to go to bed. "Fine," he huffed.

At the same time, Dais was getting the same lecture from his companion.  
"Dais, what are you doing?" Sekhmet spat at him. "Kayura told us we needed to behave ourselves."

Dais face lightened up at the mention of their young ward. "Oh, right."

"Beside," the Warlord of Venom whispered, "as leader, you should be setting an example for you-know-who." He nodded his head toward the Warlord of Darkness who was glaring at Sage.

Dais rolled his eye. "Yeah yeah. I'll be good."

Sage stood right next to Robyn, who looked so small compared to the others garbed in metal. He had some idea what she was feeling, himself only in subarmor instead of the full armor of Halo. His job was to stay with Robyn through the entire fight, and if things turned for the worse, he was to get the young woman as far away as possible. But he couldn't be near her in Halo, since the creature wouldn't show if it sense the armor of light. Kayura assured him the creature couldn't sense the subarmor, but he still wished he could have Halo on. He felt vulnerable without it, and the armor took too long to summon if he found himself it a pinch.

He also felt a little useless in the plan, even if it was his own. Everyone was adamant, especially Cale, that he was to be by Robyn's side no matter what, even in the preparation stage. There was still light coming from the sun's setting, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Since he had nothing to do, he turned to Robyn.  
His face always showed a stern calmness, with an air of self-confidence. But even though this is what he looked like on the outside, it was quite the opposite in his heart. He felt edgy and nervous. Even though he had this plan down-packed and smoothed out he wished he could have faith in it. But it wasn't in the skills of his fellow warriors that made him feel this way, but in Robyn's participation in it. While Robyn gave them her decision with determination, Sage couldn't help but wonder if she was doing this out of obligation, thinking that this was the only way to repay them for saving her life.

He walked over to the red-headed girl, and cleared his throat in an almost apologetic way.

"Robyn, can I talk to you?" he requested.

There was a tremor in Sage's voice that Robyn hadn't heard before, and it made her weary and cautious. She looked into his face, but only saw the same Sage expression. His mask didn't slip.

"Sure. What's up?" Robyn attempted at sounding normal.

"I was just wondering. . ." Sage muttered, his words sounding more thought out than usual. "Well, I just want to make sure that you've made the right decision."

"About what? Rowen?" Robyn said, a hit of humor in her tentative smile. Her attempts at calming herself with laughter wasn't working.

Sage also smiled at that for a moment, and then dropped it. "No. About being part of the plan."

"But I thought you wanted me to do this," Robyn said, confused at Sage's question.

Sage shook his head. "I want to get rid of this thing so it won't hurt you or anybody else. But I want you to know that if you don't want to go through with this, you can back off anytime. We'll find another way."

"You sound just like Cale," she muttered without thinking.

Sage frowned at that.

"It's just that he tried to talk me out of this too," Robyn explained quickly.

Sage nodded in understanding, dwelling a little longer on that comparison.

Robyn had listened to him with everything she had. Then she realized something, something that almost surprised her. She wasn't the only one that was frightened. Sage also needed to be reassured. She smiled tenderly at her friend.  
"Sage, I've made my decision."

"But I don't want you to be doing this because you think you owe us. You shouldn't be the one to risk your life, unless. . ." He stopped, not knowing what else to say.

"Unless I wanted to," Robyn added, giving him a look to say that that was the most ridiculous thing in the world. "Who does want to risk their life? Sage, I do in some way want to be here. You Ronins have risked your lives so many times. In some way, I'm a little happy that I can be here with you and be of some help." She looked so tiny and fragile as she said it.

Sage closed his eyes as if in pain. "But what if I'm wrong. What if this is wrong?"

"I have faith in you, Sage," Robyn told him. "I know you, Sage, even though you try to hide behind that stoic exterior. You're my friend, and I know that you have thought this plan through. I trust that you'll keep me safe, and we'll get through this."

"I have faith in you too," another voice broke in. "You should have faith in your own wisdom too." Rowen walked toward them, followed by Kento. He put a hand on one of Sage's shoulder's. "We are Ronin Warriors. Destiny choose us to protect this world. And we will."

Sage noticed that his friend's eyes moved away from him and onto Robyn. Sage smiled and nodded. "Thank you. I will protect you, I promise you that, Robyn."

Robyn smiled up at all of them and tried to discreetly wipe away a tear.

"Don't worry, buddy," Kento told Sage, slapping him on the back. "I'll be right here if you need me." Using his weapon and the powers of Hardrock, he shifted the earth around the ground until he made a small hole, just big enough for one person. He jumped into the hole. "I'm just a jump away," he told them as a layer of earth moved over the hole.

As Kento disappeared from sight, he also disappeared from their other senses. Once in his element, Hardrock couldn't be sensed by any of them.

"Okay, everyone, get into your places. It's almost dark," Ryo called to the Ronins and Warlords. "Rowen, you go up there," Ryo directed to the dark blue armored warrior. He pointed up to the metal beams of the building. "If you see the creature coming, shoot an arrow in the air, and we'll release the trap."

"Yeah, just a minute, Ryo," Rowen told his leader. He went over the one person not in armor. He took the small hand in his armored one. Green eyes looked up into his, eyes that didn't seem as afraid as before. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I am," she said, trying to give him a smile. She fingered her multicolored bead bracelet, as she had been prone to do. "I think I can do this."

"You know you can go back anytime," Rowen told her. "We can always find another way."

"Yeah, I know. Sage said that too. But I want to do this. I want to be able to help." Her fists were clenched in determination.

"Well then, I better go," Rowen said lamely, wishing there was something else he could say or do. But he couldn't turn around. She looked so tiny and thin, like porcelain that could be broken with the smallest pressure. He wanted to touch her, have his warmth comfort her. But he was covered almost entirely with cold hard metal, not much help with skin contact. Except for his face.

Boldly, he swept the girl into his arms and pressed his lips against hers. She didn't protest in any way, but her arms wrapped around his neck and he could feel her fingers in his hair that stuck out of the helmet.

"Please, be safe," she whispered to him, when she could. Her green eyes looked up into his crystal blue ones, and she looked calm. She stepped out of his embrace, a smile on her face as she went back to her spot.

Rowen could feel his face turning the same color as Robyn's hair at his own boldness, and couldn't stop a goofy smile spreading across his face. He must have looked like an idiot, but he didn't care. He had touched heaven for a few seconds and was flying much higher than Strata could ever take him.  
But his glory was short lived as he walked nearer to a grey and red armor. He paused as he heard Cale's gruff voice hissing and spitting out words with more hatred than he had ever heard before.

"Listen to me, under no circumstances are you to leave that girl's side."

Rowen moved a little to see who the Warlord was talking to. He saw Cale's large armored hand holding onto Sage's arm in an iron like grip. Sage's face was trying not to show the pain that Cale was inflicting as he gripped and twisted Sage's arm.

"If anything happens to her, I will make sure you suffer like no man has ever suffered. I will hunt you down and kill you. Do you understand, Halo?"Cale's voice was filled with so much loathing and darkness, that Sage's mask that he always wore fell away, and he looked very frightened of the looming Warlord. Only in his subarmor, Sage was so much more smaller and weaker than the full armor of Darkness that if Cale decided to act upon his threat now, nobody would be able to stop him. Sage's eyes were wide, and he locked them onto Rowen. He was asking his friend for help, something Sage wouldn't normally do.

"Let go of him, Cale," Rowen shouted, grabbing Cale's arm just as the Warlord was doing to Sage. "I'll let you know, if you ever try to hurt my friend, you'll have all of the Ronins to deal with, not just me."

Cale regarded Rowen's threat with as much malice as he gave Sage, and pulled his arm away from Strata. "You're a fool boy," he spat. Then his face changed; Cale looked much older and tired. He let go of Sage and walked away. They watched him as he neared the chain fence where he disappeared. He would not be included in this fight. He would stay on the outskirts, creating the net so the creature couldn't escape, and staying as far away as he could.

It wasn't until Cale had disappeared into the inky blackness that everyone realized it. Night had fallen.

"You okay, buddy?" Rowen asked, patting his friend on the shoulder.

"I'm fine," Sage said, his mask of emotionless back on. "Cale is getting dangerous. We need to finish this tonight, or he may endanger us all." The bearer of Halo walked away, determined to make this plan work. He was going to stay near Robyn, and he didn't need some crazy demon telling him that.

After seeing Sage back by Robyn, Rowen left to his post. His gut twisted as he moved further away from Robyn. Jumping up from one beam to another, he always kept Robyn's red head in sight, and he only went as far as he had to, far enough to hide his armor. Just as he was feeling calm, the moon disappeared. Fear gripped him for a moment, thinking that the creature had come so quickly, but then calmed down when he saw the street lights were still on. He looked up at the sky again, realizing some clouds were covering the moon, but there were still stars out. He couldn't tell by the clouds, but the air smelled of rain.

* * *

It was here, lurking around the perimeter, far away from the street lights. Nobody could see it, but Halo told Sage it was there. It could feel the dark energy encroaching upon them.

"Do you feel it?" Sage asked.

"No," Robyn said, but then realized he wasn't talking to her.

"I can feel it's vibrations," Kento's voice came from the ground. "It's not coming any closer. It's been walking around the perimeter for a while now. Perhaps it knows we are here. We're scaring it away."

Robyn shuttered at the thought of the shadow demon's close proximity to her. She strained her eyes to find it in the darkness, but saw nothing there.

"No, I don't think so," Sage told the ground. "It's not going to leave, even if it knew all of us were here. It's very hungry. If it doesn't feed, it will die. It's not going to let this chance go."

Robyn shirked away from the darkness around her, leaning toward Sage. The thought of the creature made her stomach churn from nervousness, and she then knew how the mouse felt when a cat stalks it.

"What's it doing now?" Sage asked in a whisper.

"I don't know," Kento told him, his voice muffled by the layers of earth. "It's just pacing around and around."

Sage's frown deepened and by instinct he reached for his no-dachi. It only took him a second to remember he was only in subarmor. He growled in frustration.

"It's leaving, Sage," Kento whispered harshly. "We have to go after it."

"No, we have to stay here," Sage ordered the hidden warrior. "We can't leave Robyn."

Sage felt the creature's presence leave, at least from his sense's range. But then he sense it again, but not in the same spot.

"It's behind us!" Sage shouted, turning quickly around. More than ever did he want Halo summoned, when he was expected to wait to the last second until he could fight.

Robyn quickly moved behind Sage, trying to see through with what little light was provided.

Then, the street lights went out and everything was black. The creature screamed.

It took everything he had to work his vocal chords to shout in the darkness, "It's here. The demon is here. Light up the signal."

* * *

Rowen panicked when his eyes couldn't see Robyn or Sage anymore. He wanted to go to her, to pick her up and carry her away as he did last night. But instead, he locked his joints and held onto his bow, waiting for the words that would let him move. His senses were going crazy, his armor was picking up so many different power signals that he didn't know who was who. Some were standing still and some were running all around him. But one was advancing toward the place where Robyn and Sage were, very slowly like a lion stalking through long grass. His muscles felt like they were ripping off of his bones as he forced himself not to leave his post.

Finally, he heard a shout from the darkness, one of his friend's voices yelling at him. "It's here. The demon is here. Light up the signal."

Rowen readied his arrow and shot it into the sky. This arrow wasn't anything fancy or flashy. Just a small streak of light to tell Cale to start putting the barrier up. The first step of the plan was in play. But there was still a long ways to go before Rowen could leave his post, a fact that made him break out in a cold sweat.

* * *

At their post at the back of the construction site, Kayura and Cale waited for Strata's signal. Like a falling star going in the opposite direction, Rowen's arrow shot up to the sky, letting the duo know that the demon had come.

"Is it ready?" Kayura asked, and picked up a substance that looked like complete darkness.

"Yeah," Cale told her and started stretching out the dark net. "You remember how to put it onto the posts?"

Kayura smiled confidantly at him and set off around the construction site. Cale did the same in the opposite direction. The plan was the Kayura was to help Cale start putting the net up before engaging in battle. Even though they were only protecting a smaller area than before, Cale needed some help to start getting the net up. Darkness was a stubborn and difficult element, and tended to want to stay in a group. Kayura would put up a few yards of the net before leaving, and leave the rest to Cale.

Once she had finished her last post, Kayura raced to the epicenter of their trap, the chains of the mighty weapon she carried jangled and clanked as she ran. Halo will be needing the help.

* * *

Sage could barely believe it when the shadows all around him started creeping across the ground. Startled, he didn't know in what direction to look or turn with so much darkness before him. And without the streetlights for help, he was blind where he was. Where was everyone else? Was the net up? How long would it take to put it up? Did something go wrong?

He could feel Robyn's body directly behind him, and he stretched back his hand to hold onto her wrist to comfort her and make sure she would stay behind him. Things were looking very bad.

There was a growling next to his ear, and he could smell rotting flesh. In an instant, he pull Robyn to him and jumped away. He didn't show fear much, but if there was light, Robyn would have seen it on his face. Leaping into the darkness was something he wished he had not done, not only did he not know where the creature was, but he also didn't know where he was going to land. The dark pit of the construction site came into his mind.

Before fear completely washed over him, he prepared his legs for landing, and once he felt pressure under them, braced himself. After a second to calm himself, he said to the young woman, "Are you alright?"

The leap into nothingness reminded Robyn of her running away from the creature the night before, how she couldn't see where she was going and tripping on the sidewalk. She was completely terrified, imagining every little sound and brush of air as the creature coming for her. Finally, she gave Sage a shaky, "Yeah."

Just as she spoke, something grabbed her leg and pulled her out of Sage's grip.

* * *

The wait was slowly taking years off of Rowen's life, but when he heard that scream from the voice of his loved one, it nearly stopped his heart. His mind, when he needed it most, became blank at the question What should I do?  
Finally, he just told himself, _Screw the plan,_ and notched an arrow onto his bow.  
"Arrow Shock Wave," he shouted, summoning as much power from Strata as he could in a short amount of time, and shot it directly below him. Just as he released the arrow, he heard a voice cry out in the night, booming in a loud voice he didn't recognize,

"Now, Halo! Save her!"

A moment later, his arrow burst into dazzling light only ten feet below him, nearly blinding him.

* * *

Sage heard the voice shout at him, "Now, Halo! Save her!" He thought for a moment that it was Rowen that had yelled at him. But it didn't matter, that was enough for him. He barely had to say the words that would call on his armor before the heavy metal embraced his subarmor.  
At the same the arrow exploded, the armor of Halo released an enormous amount of lightning energy that crackled and spread around him.

Even though he had Halo to protect him, he felt a little disoriented from have to adjust from total darkness to total light. Spots of darkness and color flashed in front of him until one red and one black one came into focus.

Robyn, paralyzed in fear after her first scream, had curled up into a ball on the ground in defense. The creature was huddling in her shadow, trying to hide from Halo.

Sage raised his large weapon and swung it at the creature, missing Robyn's head by inches.

The creature jumped back with incredible strength, landing several yards away and retreating behind a pile of dirt left over from the digging. It whined sickly and pawed at the ground in hunger, like a pitiful dog.

"Come on. It's time to get you out of here," Sage said, picking Robyn up in his arms. "You've done your part." He leapt away, heading toward the entrance of the construction site; at the same time, Strata's arrow's effect was starting to dissipate quickly.  
With it's food source quickly retreating, the creature pursued with wild intent, panting harshly. From the corner of his eye, Sage was able to glance back and see it.

"It's coming after us, Kento," he shouted, hoping his hidden friend could hear him.

Like a magical warrior being resurrected from his burial, Kento rose out of the ground, dirt and rocks cascading off his helmet and shoulder guards, his deadly weapon swinging around with perfect accuracy that it collided with the skull of the demon and knocked it into the ground.

"Yeah, I hit the sucker," Kento shouted, and pumped his arm in triumph.

But the creature wasn't down for long. It bounced back onto its feet, screaming nightmarishly at the large orange armor. With swiftness it sprung at Kento, dark saliva dripping poisonously off it's large fangs.

The Bearer of Hardrock was slow to react, and when he did it was only to raise his arms in defense. But that became unnecessary as a torrent of fire roared between the two, warming the Hardrock armor and searing the creature. It made a carnivorous bleating noise before backing away warily.

"Dudes," Kento said gratefully as Cye and Ryo came running up from their own places, weapons read. "Thanks, guys."

"Where's Robyn?" Cye asked immediately as he slowed down.

"Here," Sage said as he stepped from behind some construction machinery he used as shelter, Robyn still in his arms. "She's okay. Just a little shaken up."

"Take her out of here now," Ryo ordered roughly, pointing to the construction entrance.

Sage nodded, and started running in that direction.

The beast swung it's head in an arc, watching Sage start to leave. Darting in a large circle, it started toward its prey. The other Ronins acted quickly, following the creature and trying to cut it off. But their bulky armors couldn't match the speed of shadows, and the creature was able to outrun them, but not their surekills.

Sage was suddenly in the chase of his life as he tried to sprint for safety only to be attacked and turned away from the shadow beast, who seemed to have the ability to increase its size to its advantage. Kento, Ryo and Cye would be following close behind the creature, but their efforts were just as futile. Once during the scuffle, Cye had the thing cornered and used his surekill. The creature didn't even hesitate, and jumped through the water attack without effect. Cye was so surprised by this that he hesitated to respond further. Because of this, the beast had a cleared path right to Sage and Robyn. To avoid a collision with the dark animal Sage had to dive and roll away seconds before the creatures jaws clamped over one of the two. Dark energy serged around his helmet, giving him a slight headache, but Halo's electricity dissolved the darkness quickly. But it was enough to hinder him from the creature's counterattack.

Sage on his knees from the roll, was hindered by the dark energy long enough to distract him from the creature so it could attack. Once again, it was deflected from its goal, this time by a golden arrow hit it right in its shoulder. Sage looked up and gave a grateful wave to the dark blue guardian that held his post from the building's top.

"It's okay, guys, I got it," Kento said gruffly as he finally caught up to the beast. He grabbed the dark creature from where it lay on the ground from the scruff of it's neck, and held on tightly. From the blast of energy and its weakened state, the creature became a surprisingly small size. It was no bigger than a kitten, looking just as weak and puny. As it came to its senses, it started to twist and turn, growling and screaming that hellish cry, trying it's hardest to get at Kento.

"I guess we're done," Kento gloated, his tone very light.  
"Not quite, Kento," Sage said, getting to his feet. "We have make sure this demon can't harm anyone else."

"You are correct, Halo," a feminie voice agreed, and into the circle of Ronins jumped Kayura. "We must destroy it. But I suggest that you be very careful, Hardrock."

"Wha? It can't get me. Can ya, ya little freak," Kento teased the creature.

Kayura frowned, but didn't lecture the young man more. "Halo, it's your sword that will banish it."

Sage looked down at Robyn, and shamefully took notice of her fear. But in the heat of battle, it would have been foolish to stop and try to comfort her. But it was high proof to her bravery that she hadn't uttered some much as a whimper throughout the fight and was willing to stand on her own feet no matter how shaky they were. She was still trembling as Ryo and Cye surrounded her on both sides as Sage stepped away, the crackling energized no-dachi in his hands.

At the sight of the lightning enwrapped sword, the creature went crazy. It started to foam at its muzzle and its screams were mixed with a sickening gurgling noise as it violently tossed itself around. The creature turned enough that it gripped onto Kento's hand guard with its forepaws, hoisted itself up and bit Kento's hand.

Kento didn't try to stop the creature, which he later regretted. His arm was suddenly charged with black electricity that crinkled and surged through his armor, causing him a lot of pain and finally numbing the appendage all the way to the shoulder. This caused him to drop the demon. Not wanting to be defeated by such a tiny enemy, Kento recovered, and reached with his other hand for the beast.

The demon easily dodged the attempt and ran right between Kento's legs.

"Why you littl. . tle. . ," Kento shouted, but faltered half-way and collapsed onto his stomach. He tried to get back up, but he felt like he had no energy. "What's happened to me?"

"What's happened to him?" Cye asked, wishing he could help his friend but didn't want to abandon Robyn. For the answer to his question, he looked to Kayura.

The young girl looked at the fallen warrior with widened eyes. "I. . .I don't know. I've never seen the creature do this before," she said as she moved to help Kento up. With the help of Sage, they were able to get Kento to his knees. When they did, the others gasped.

"What is it?" Sage asked worried, not able to see what was wrong.  
Kento looked down and saw what made them gasp, and moaned, "That's so. . bizarre."

Sage followed Kento's eyes and understood. But it was Robyn who said it, her voice soft. "Kento. You. . .You don't have a shadow."

"Man, what kind of Peter Pan crap is that dinky little thing pulling," Kento complained loudly.

They heard someone yelling, but couldn't hear where it came from. They realized who it was when a bright arrow shot down from the top of the building and landed a few feet from Ryo's feet. And inches from the creature's jaws.

There was curses from each warrior as they realized their guards were dropped. Ryo and Cye each grabbed one of Robyn's arms and hauled her away, and Sage followed close behind, his sword guarding their rear. Kayura threw the chained sickle of her weapon at the creature, hoping to catch a hold of it and tie it up. But because she was the only one holding Kento up, her aim was off.

The creature dodged Kayura's attack, and took to the offensive against her. The young warrior was barely able to pull her weapon back before she was able to use the sickle as a shield. Black energy filled the weapon, but it blocked the worse of the demon's bite. However, due to Kento being her handicap, she was unable to defend herself as the creature ran through her shadow and stole it. Both Kayura and Kento crumbled, neither one with little more energy than to moan and cough as they breathed in the stirred up dirt.

"Ack, I can't move. Where are the Warlords, Kayura?" Kento asked as he grunted and strained to pick himself up.

The young girl's eyes were darting around. "I. . .I don't know. They should have been here," she said, her voice sounding soft and frightened. "You don't think the creature found them first."

The same thoughts came to Sage as he lashed out at the creature, keeping it away from Robyn and the others. The night before, the creature had easily turned away from the warriors, but this night was different. They had, as the saying goes, driven the creature in a corner. The net of darkness would be completely useless since the creature had no intention of leaving before it had Robyn. And getting Robyn to safety was proving to be more difficult than planned.

"Need a little help, Ronins," a calm voice called out to them.

There was the sound of electronic rumbling, and then the flood lights all over the construction site turned on. The creature, startled by the luminescence, screetched and howled, its body collapsing onto itself and growing smaller. Out of the light stepped two men in armor, one holding up venom soaked katanas, the other his spider-like weapon.

"Sorry we didn't come help before," Sekhmet said as he approached. "We found the generator used by the workers and thought that a little more light couldn't hurt."

"Great idea," Ryo shouted at him, keeping Robyn at a distance.

"Its not going anywhere with this much light. It won't take long before all its energy is gone trying to fight," Dais said with a smirk, but his body was still on guard of the creature. "Halo, take the girl away now. That's your job, so go do it. Sekhmet, go with him just in case. Me, Wildfire and Torrent can handle it from here."

Sekhmet nodded and followed Sage to where Robyn was being guarded by Ryo and Cye.

"How are you holding up?" Sage asked Robyn as he took a hold of her arm. He could feel her trembling.

Robyn only nodded, not really know what to say. She had been picked up and carried around like a small child, not that she was complaining. She just wanted this to be over, no more being picked up and flung through the air, no more darkness and no more fear.

Sage understood her silence. He waited a few moments to let her calm down more being in the presence of so many people before he directed her away from the creature with Sekhmet at the front and Sage following her.

"Now we can get onto the business of destroying the creature," Dais said in a grim voice.

"But I thought only Sage's sword can do that," Cye said, his face showing mixed confusion.

"That's just a theory," Dais explained. "The sword of Halo would be more effective, but there's more than one way to produce light. Wildfire, if you would. . ."

Ryo interpreted the invitation to release his surekill, creating a ring of fire around the creature. He watched without enjoyment as the creature screamed and cried as it clawed at the flames, shrinking smaller and smaller and looking weaker by the minute. Would it just disappear, or was there something under all the darkness that would leave a body behind?

Unfortunately, they wouldn't know if the dancing fire would have done either.

* * *

Sekhmet walked at a brisk pace wanting to get the girl away as quickly as possible. By the brilliance of the lights and Wildfire's attack, the way was visible. But even so, Sekhmet felt uneasy. His battle instincts told him something was wrong. You didn't live thousands of years not to know when something could go wrong. In one way, he was like the Ronin that was the tail of their tiny train; he had a cool exterior during the battle, although he liked to express himself outside of a fight. But while he could keep a poker face in the most intense situations, his muscles were always taut and tense.

"Be ready for anything, Halo," Sekhmet told his companion, lifting up his katanas.

However, his warning was useless to him.

They were only a few yards away from the edge of the dark net when Sekhmet stopped. The air felt different, and he could smell it.

"What is it?" Sage asked drawing Robyn closer to him.

"I'm not sure, but there's something here," he whispered, and took a tentative step forward. As his heavy foot settled on the ground, tendrals of dark energy burst from the ground like vines, twinning around the green and red armor. Blackness tightened around Sekhmet and burrowed in every niche and corner of the metal as the Warlord cried out in pain.

Halo pulled Robyn away quickly, almost too late as the blackness reached out to her. Then to his surprise, the ground beneath him became unstable. Retreating swiftly, it wasn't until he was sure Robyn was safe before he looked back to see what had happened.

"What in the. . ." Robyn whispered as she starred at where they were only seconds ago.

The ground from where Sekhmet was to a few feet from Sage was a gapping black pit of nothingness. There seemed to be no bottom, and as they starred into it there seemed to be a dark foreboding that told them that something worse than shadows were down there.

"A trap," Sage gasped, and then became more angry. "It set a trap for us. That's what it was doing pacing around the perimeter."

"What should we do?" Robyn asked as she forced herself to look away from the pit. "We can't leave him over there."

As if in reply to Robyn's words, Sekhmet shouted in a strained voice, "Run. Get her away from here." Then the form of the Warlord collapsed.

As if Zeus was present, arrows like lightening rained down on that pit, trying to light it up. But the darkness patiently waited for each arrow to burn out. Then it retaliated sending out numberless tendrils of darkness after Robyn, only to enclose over space and Sage picked her up once again away from danger. But she wasn't their only target. Their maker had something else it needed them to do. Even though it caused the darkness much pain, it reached out to the light and crushed it.

Sage noticed, and shouted to the other party, "It's laid a trap. It's attacking the lights."

* * *

Dais didn't look very happy at Sage's warning. In fact, he looked very disturbed. "How can that be? The creature is right in front of us."

"It laid a trap somehow, that's all we need to know," Cye told the Warlord. "What should we do?" The question was directed to the Ronin leader.

However, Ryo didn't answer. His eyes were on the creature as it started to grow. The fire wasn't enough, and the lights around the construction site were one by one going out. His face was set in a determined frown as he walked into his ring of fire. In response to his armor, the flames grew bigger where he touched him, and the creature cowered away as Ryo approached it.

"Ryo, what are you doing?" Cye asked worriedly, but he couldn't get close to his friend due to the flames.

"It's getting bigger," Ryo said from his observations. "Wildfire can hold it for long. You two go help Sage. Get Robyn to safety, then Sage can banish this demon."

Cye didn't move. "You can't take that thing by yourself," Cye told him.

"Robyn is our priority right now. Go and guard her," Ryo ordered with more authority than he ever had. He looked right into Cye's eyes with his blue ones, and then onto Dais.

The Warlord nodded, willing to obey Ryo's orders. He placed a hand on the Bearer of Torrent's shoulders to tell him that they must go.

Cye turned around and followed Dais in the direction of the disappearing lights, which led them closer to the building structure. They stopped a few feet from the foundation hole, and as they did a dark blue armor jumped down next to them.

"What's been going on down here?" Rowen asked axiously. "Why isn't Robyn outside the net? Where is everyone?"

"Kento and Kayura are down. The demon did something to them," Cye explained.

"So has Sekhmet," a voice said, and a green armor jumped among them.

Rowen moved toward his friend, his hand with the dark blue beads reaching up to Robyn's face, feeling dread in his stomach for seeing her still in danger. She welcomed the comfort and whispered to him that she was fine.

"What happened? Why aren't you outside the net?" Dais demanded.

Sage's eyebrows darkened his eyes. "The creature set up a trap. Sekhmet stepped in it, and it opened up a pit. I couldn't cross it with Robyn. The result would have been disastrous," Sage quickly explained.

"Where's Ryo?" Rowen asked, looking in the direction of the fire, which was one of the last sources of light.

* * *

Swords crossed in front to defend himself, Ryo stepped forward toward the creature, herding it into the scorching flames. He continued to advance as the beast spat at him and waited for it to lunge at him. The more it was cowed, the creature became more and more desperate. But it was also gaining in strength as the flood lights went out, but it still didn't attack.

Was it trying to bide it's time? Ryo wasn't sure, but he decided it was better to act than to wait and see. He sliced at the creature, being careful to watch its actions. The creature dodged and back away from each attack, acting not very eager to engage Wildfire in battle. Finally it had no choice when Ryo's katana sliced into the demon's forepaw. The wound was deep and flames licked in the sword's wake. The creature, blinded by pain, leapt at Ryo, ignoring as the sword was driven further into the injured paw.

Fangs latched onto Ryo's shoulder guard and dark energy surged all over his armor. He shouted in pain as he felt darkness scratching at him through the red metal. His energy was being driven from his body, and he couldn't do anything about it but drive the creature away with his swords. The creature danced away, limping as it did so since its wounded limp was severed from it's dark leaking body. With one paw damaged, it moaned like the dying. Shadow like drops from the missing limp fell onto the ground and then disappeared in a sizzling steam of smoke.

Even though he was able to chase the demon away, the damage was done. The Bearer of Wildfire could feel his strength waning and his armor couldn't help him.

"If I'm going down, the I'm going to take you with me," Ryo told the beast in a rough voice. "Wildfire, give me strength! Flare Up Now!" He waved his swords around to stir up the flames higher and higher until he and the creature were in a tornado of flames.

The creature shuttered and trembled as the flames danced around, much like the shadows near a bonfire. It screamed and howled like a cages animal with no way of escape as the flames drew closer to its damaged body. The creature, not to give up without a fight, attacked Ryo's leg, sending its darkness into the armor.

"Please, Wildfire, give it all you have," Ryo whispered to the magical armor through the pain, not sparing any energy to fight the creature off. He willed all his power into the fire, and letting the pillar of flames collapse onto itself, cocooning both him and the creature in the heat. Flames where all around the two, licking at metal and shadow.

The beast screamed in pain as the fire left no room for escape or mercy and let Ryo go.

Ryo smiled as he felt the flames all around him, touching him delicately as his eyesight blurred, and then he saw no more.

* * *

Everyone watched as the fire exploded out of nowhere, acting like an out of control fire, getting higher and higher. The flames swirled around and around like a tornado from the heavens. Then, just as it mystically rose, the flames died down to nothing.

They weren't sure when the rain started. It could have been during the large fire display or it could have just started up. Either way, the remaining warriors and Robyn were starting to become soaked as it poured all around them.

Out of all of them, Robyn was the most affected. She wasn't used to this. She wasn't prepared to see something like this happened. Never did she expect this to happen.

"Someone go help him," she whispered, her voice trembling. Her rain soaked hair stuck to her face and tears mingled with rainwater as she pleaded to her guardians. "Go get him."

The both turned their heads away.

"We can't," Sage told her. "Ryo would want us to stay here with you. That was his order."

"Please, can't you do something?" Robyn asked. "I don't care anymore, just get everyone out safely."

"It's acting like a cornered animal," Dais growled. "It's fighting for it's life. It's not going to let us leave with you. I know you're worried about your friend, but please stay calm. We'll get you out of here, and then go rescue Wildfire." His voice was surprisingly gentile when he spoke to Robyn.

Robyn couldn't help but think that everyone was giving her promises that were just wishful thinking, that all their plans were crumbling before them. She had been complacent so far with everyone's wishes, but she didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of her. "No, go help him now." She couldn't help but say it with emotion in her voice and tears starting to peak out of her eyelids.

Dais shook his head, but gave her some words of comfort in his gruff way. "The creature won't kill him, that is not its objective now. However, if it does get a hold of you, it will not let a single one of us live to fight another day."

Robyn's eyes widened at Dais' cold expression, which stared down at her, then snapped up to Sage.

"Halo, we must get you and the girl past the barrier. Cale should be waiting for us there. We'll regroup and decide what to do. Who knows, maybe some of our fallen comrades have recovered and will meet us there. We'll decide how to go on from there," Dais ordered coolly. "We will do all we can, but we don't know what will happen when we take away the bait."

"We need to proceed cautiously," Sage warned everyone. "When Sekhmet and I went near the net, we stepped on a trap. Sekhmet was encased in these tentacles of darkness and then a large pit opened up. I don't think we should try to cross that pit."

Dais rubbed his chin. "I see that our foe is pulling out all his tricks. I haven't see it ever use these powers. Perhaps we'll have to find a different way out of here."

"How?" Cye asked.

"Strata, could you fly us over the net?"

Rowen, from his perch on the steel beams, saw the trap that Sekhmet stepped into and the large pit that Sage scarcely avoided. Remembering the pit that was like a maw shivered. Something deep within his armor told him that the pit was the shadow demon's world and anything that would try to cross it would be dragged down into that pit.

"No, I won't take Robyn over that. We should go around the back where there isn't a pit. But I can't take all five of us."

"Take Halo and Robyn. When you find Cale, give us a signal. We'll stay here until you can come back for us," Dais said, and stepped away from the others.

Sage nodded to Rowen in agreement, and held Robyn closer to himself with one arm, using his other hand to keep his sword ready for battle.

Rowen summoned the dark blue bubbled that engulfed the three of them, and started lifting them up into the air. If it had just been him, he would have shot right into the air, but with the extra weight the ascent was slow. Strata wasn't a sturdy and strong armor like Hardrock or Wildfire, it was light and quick like the wind, and wasn't used to such labor.

When they were about thirty feet into the air, a dark shadow came out of nowhere and landed on the large bubble. It didn't pop, but it stopped the descent. Claws scratched at the force-field, and screams echoed all around them.

Sage tried to raise his No-dachi, but he couldn't do anything for risk of bursting Strata's buble. If he did, all three of them would plunge thirty feet.

Rowen could feel the creature sucking the energy of his bubble away, and he kept pouring energy back into it. But if they didn't do something, Strata would be deplete. Making a quick decision, he pulled out his bow and an arrow. "Sage, hold onto Robyn," he shouted before letting loose his sure kill.

At such a close range, not to mention the wound it received from its scuffle with Ryo, it couldn't dodge the arrow of light. The projectile went through the bubble, and hit the creature in the abdomen. When the bubble burst, the arrow exploded as well, sending all of the occupants flying toward the building skeleton.

With Robyn still in his arms, Sage landed gracefully onto one of the beams. He quickly looked around, but Rowen wasn't in sight. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadowy figure jumping from one beam to another. Raising his sword, Sage concentrated on his element.

"Wait, don't shoot," Dais shouted, waving an arm at Halo.

Sage lowered the weapon as Dais swung to the beam he was on. The Warlord of Illusion was using his eight sickle weapon to swing from beam to beam in the structure, which was probably how he stopped from falling.

"Me and Torrent saw the creature attacking, so we came up to help," Dais explained, drawing closer.

"Where's Rowen? And Cye?" Robyn asked worriedly, trying to look around Sage's shoulder, but was too weak to pull herself up.

"Torrent should be looking for Strata," Dais said, and looked around the structure. "They should be around here somewhere."

"Wherever he is, I hope he's okay?" Sage said to Robyn. "But he would want us to get you out of here." Sage was about to jump down, when he felt his armor react with the darkness. But before he could call out in alarm, a blue metal form dropped from above.

Dais in reaction, caught the form before it fell further, grunting as he took on the Ronin's full weight.

"Cye!" Robyn shouted, and reach to help Dais pull him up, but Sage pulled her away.

Dais, straining to pull up the warrior, noticed the dark energy crackling around Torrent. Then he heard the unearthly scream and looked up. His eye widened as he could look through the sharp dark saliva dripping teeth and down into the creature's throat. With his free hand, he pulled out his weapon to defend himself, but Cye's weight gave him a balance disadvantage.

Instead of attacking the demon, Dais used his surekill to create a web, one that blocked the creature's path to Robyn.

"Run!" Dais shouted as he pulled up Cye's deadweight with his strength. "Get out of here."

Sage did as he was told, and started jumping down from one beam level to another.

Which left Dais alone with the growling dark animal, and it wasn't very happy that its prey had escaped. Turning its cold white eyes to Dais, it leapt to kill.

Just as the fangs were about to sink into whatever part of the Warlord it reached first, a dark blue blur came up from below it and kicked it upward into the higher levels of the beams, away from Dais and the unconscious Cye.

"I'll take care of it," Rowen said his dark blue hair getting in his eyes. He had lost his helmet during his fall, and was unable to recover it.

"What's your plan?" Dais shouted, as he swung after the Ronin.

"We stay as far away as we can from it, hitting it from far away," Rowen told him. "And hopefully detract it long enough to let Robyn and Sage escape. After that I have no clue," he said with a grim smile. He pulled out an arrow from his quiver, and shot it at nothing in particular. It lite up the sky, and the beast howled its displeasure at the light and not being able to hide in the dark.

Dais grunted in approval and used his weapon to prevent the creature from following after Sage.

The creature jumped further up into the metal beams to dodge another of Rowen's arrow of light, and it made a gurgling growl, it's dark blood dripping from its missing paw.

Together, the Warlord and Ronin chased it up to the top where Rowen had an advantage over the creature. He could fly all around the creature, and make it jump and go wherever he wanted with just his arrows.

Dais, however, seemed less than a threat to the demon, and charged the one-eyed Warlord. Using Rowen's long-distance attack technique, he used his weapon to attack the creature further away. But the creature knew how the armors were. It jumped over the sickle like blades, and bit the weapon. Like a power cord, the metal acted as a conductor for the black energy to zap the Warlord. Not as effective as a real bite, but it immobilized the man enough that he couldn't lift his weapon.

"No!" Rowen shouted as the creature advanced onto the Warlord. Just in time, he blocked the animal's teeth from sinking into the maroon armor with his yellow bow. Rowen predicted the black energy surge, and shoved the creature away. Before he could reach for another arrow, the demon charged again, this time a large paw leading the creature. Rowen jumped back, but not in time.

Only one claw sliced through his forehead, but also through his left eye and check. The pain sent his body into shock, and he stumbled around with his hand up to the bloody gash. His foot fell off the edge of the beam, and the rest of his armored body followed. One hand lashed out, and gripped so tightly to the edge. The wound over his eye seem to spread inside him and drained him of energy. Strata almost seemed to be fading from his body as the black energy flowed through his muscles, bone and blood.

A sickly howl was riveted onto him as the creature looked down at the powerless Strata, its white blind eyes radiating the hatred it had for him.

* * *

Sage's feet sunk into the soft mud as he landed back onto the ground, leaving large prints in the muck. When he first presented this plan, never did he ever think he would have to go forward alone. This isn't what was suppose to happen. The creature wasn't suppose to be this strong. He was ashamed that he had underestimated the demon by such a large margin, and all of his friends have paid for that. It almost seemed like a horror movie as one by one they had all fallen. His only consolation was that he would not fail in this last job. He would not let Rowen and the others down. He would get Robyn out of there safely.

"Rowen!" Robyn shouted. She had closed her eyes when Rowen left, and Sage thought she fainted or something. But she was sitting up in his arms, and struggling to look over the large shoulder guards. "Rowen!"

Sage turned as well, and saw through the darkness a small shadow dangling from the top of the building structure.

Robyn struggled in Sage's arms, trying to get on her feet. Sage was surprised how strong she was to how pale and weak she looked. "Sage, Rowen needs help. Please go save him," she pleaded when he didn't let her go.

"Robyn, I can't leave you. Rowen can take care of himself," Sage told her, looking away.

"But I can't stand to loose another one," Robyn told him with such sorrow. "I don't want to go if it means someone has to be sacrificed for me. I don't want anybody else to get hurt because of me." She put her head against his chest. "Please, go save him."

All of Sage's training told him to ignore Robyn, to follow orders. He had always acted upon reason instead of emotions as a Ronin, but he had never had a choice like this. Something in Robyn's voice, in her facial expression moved him to ignore his battle instincts.

"Hide behind something," he told her gruffly, and set her down. "I'll be back very soon."

* * *

Rowen trembled and gritted his teeth as his arm started to loose strength. He had to drop his bow so he could hold on with both hands. The creature hissed and snarled at him, and snapped at his hands and face, but did not bite him. It seemed to be teasing him, trying to get him to let go on his own. Or using him as bait.

The Bearer of Strata looked down and saw a bright ball of light jumping up the beams with wondrous speed. He saw Sage's countenance, both of his eyes filled with rage and bloodlust. He leapt and swung his no-dachi.

In mid-swing, the dark beast leapt off the building and with long massive legs, used Halo's own helmet as a leverage point, pushed itself downward toward the ground, falling faster than gravity could pull.

"NO! It's after Robyn," Rowen shouted. Even though his armor was weakened, he let go of the beam, and followed after the creature.

Sage realized his blunder with icy dread that sunk into his heart, and followed after with the same speed as he came, passing up Rowen. "ROBYN!" he shouted. "RUN!"

A small figure ran out behind a cement truck toward them. Sage was glad she had the foresight to do so, since it was obvious she could not outrun such a powerful monster. Her only chance was to get to them.

The beast, with nothing in its way, ran to its prey with swiftness. Rowen and Sage didn't even have a chance to reach the ground when it lunged at her.

"ROBYN!" a deep voice shouted from the dark.

Robyn closed her eyes, not wanting to see her end, hoping that she wouldn't have to feel the creature's fangs for long. Instead she was hit by a large body of metal which pushed her forcefully away. She slid along the ground in the mud with little injury. When she looked up, a rain soaked red cap blew in the wind hiding most of the gray and red armor of Cale. His right arm was in the creature's mouth.

"Remember me?" Cale shouted at the creature, and carnal smile on his dark countenance. Raising his left arm, he swung it with as much force to plunge his clawed gauntlet into the creature's ribs.

The two forms were completely surrounded by darkness, the creature's energy conflicting with Cale's dark lightening. With an animal-like fierceness, Cale continued to strike at the creature with his gauntlet, pushing the creature back away from Robyn. But the demon twisted Cale's arm around, causing both of the to fall onto the ground. The two rolled over and over, growling, yelling and clawing at each other like pit bulls. The rain soaked mud clung to them, making them lighter in their darkness. Their brawl became so wild one couldn't tell where one ended and where the other began; just the slightest flash of the creature's eyes and Cale's scar.

Robyn scrambled away backward on hands and knees, least she get caught in the fight. With her eyes on them she had little knowledge as to where she was headed until her knees hit nothing. She screamed short and high as she tried to prevent herself from sliding down the steep, muddy walls of the construction foundation. But momentum and the slick mud help little as she tried to cling to the muddy earth with both hands and feet. The sensation of falling gripped the fear in her stomach.

Just before her hands slid from the horizontal muddy plane, cold metal ones grabbed her wrists, preventing her torso to slid further into the hole. Robyn looked up to see both Sage and Rowen, who had simultaneous came to her rescue. She tried to smile gratefully up at the two. But the somewhat happy moment was cut short as she saw the head of the nightmarish beast hovering above Rowen and Sage's. She screamed, the only thing she could think of to warn the two.

Sage immediately dropped Robyn's hand and raised his no-dachi to defend the three of them as the creature racked its claws at them, a hit that would have been deadly save for one thing. Behind the creature, holding on to its back legs as best he could was Cale. But Cale looked as if he didn't have much energy to continue to doing so.

Dark and light energy surged around the area as Sage pushed his sword against the creature's claws. But he didn't have much leverage to keep the creature at bay since he was on his knees in the mud. He asked Halo for help, and struggled to his feet, forcing the creature further back.

But the shadow creature wouldn't give up, it couldn't. This was life or death to it, it either had what it wanted, or used up its life to get it. Using its life energy, it grew bigger and stronger, trying to push Sage but the Ronin wouldn't budge.

When Sage let go of Robyn's wrist, Rowen grabbed it with his other hand. He was breathing heavily and his eyes burned and stung with a sharp pain. Because his armor's power was almost gone, and his own energy was spent, he was unable to pull Robyn up by himself. Rowen locked onto the green eyes that looked up to him, eyes that seemed to age right before him. Her face and arms were covered in the watery mud, and more of it slid down her front and hair. Rain water and mud fell into her eyes, and she blinked as tears came from both the irritation and fear.

"Hang on," he told her, his voice trembling.

As they stared at each other, he realized the ground was moving slowly closer. He felt the earth sinking beneath him. His armor was too slick and heavy that the weakened mud was giving out on him.

"Sage, help!" he shouted, fear gripping onto his heart.

The warrior of light heard his friend call, and tried to look at the situation. When he saw the dark blue armor slowly slipping further into the pit, he panicked. Brain reeling from so much going on, he did the only thing he could think of. Using the toe of his armor, he looped it through the metal square ring on Rowen's heel, something all of the armors had in common. Knowing that it would cause his friend discomfort, he put all of his weight onto that foot, and ground it into the mud. The sliding stopped.

Rowen bit back a cry of pain as his ankle was pushed and twisted further than it was suppose go. But he bore the pain for Robyn, anything to make this nightmare end.

As Sage solved one problem, he was unable to think of a way to stop the creature. His eyes went to Cale who was sweating from exhaustion. From his scuffle with the demon, he had lost his helmet, and his dark blue hair hung limp against his skull in a pitiful way. But his eyes still burned with a fighting fire and hatred. His eyes were telling Sage that he needed to do something quickly.

At the thought of Cale, Sage noticed the large wound the Warlord had inflicted on the creature with his gauntlet. Shadowy blood flooded out of it. If he could get his sword into that wound. . .

As Sage was figuring that out, Rowen was comforting Robyn. "Just hang on. Everything will be fine," he whispered, his voice sounding hoarse and dry. And Robyn's right hand was no longer in Rowen's left.

She cried out as she swung slightly, reaching back to grab back on. It was nearly impossible, since the rain and mud had coated both the fine hand, and white and blue metal one. She was finally able to grab onto his wrist, right where the dark blue bead bracelet was.

Rowen tried to hold on tighter, but he was so weak that he was trembling. Robyn's left hand slipped out. He then used both hands to hold onto Robyn's right one. He concentrated on that one hand, his heart beating hard. Drops of blood fell onto Robyn's face as his strain made his wound bleed faster. Tears blotted his right eye, so he couldn't see at all. "I'll save you, Robyn."

Robyn's face looked up into the bleeding face, and she whispered softly, "I'm sorry."

Both her hands slipped, bringing with her the bead bracelet. Rowen lunged forward, but was held back by Sage's foot and came short. His hand enclosed over some bead.

The band broke.

Rowen watched the beads falling all around her, falling at the same speed. Her eyes stayed on his face, watching him without fear. He made it so she had nothing to fear.

His ears couldn't hear sound for a few second, everything was quiet as her body hit the earth. He couldn't see very well, but he imagined her blood mingling with her hair, sharing the same color, her green eyes still staring at him, believing that he could save her.


	7. Chapter 6: Destiny Shifting

Changes in Destiny

Chapter 6: Destiny Shifting

By Hatashi Kitty A.K.A Emilou

_**A Poison Tree**_

_I was angry with my friend:_

_I told my wrath, my wrath did end._

_I was angry with my foe:_

_I told it not, my wrath did grow._

_And I watered it in fears_

_Night and morning with my tears,_

_And I sunned it with smiles_

_And with soft deceitful wiles._

_And it grew both day and night,_

_Till it bore an apple bright,_

_And my foe beheld it shine,_

_And he knew that it was mine, -_

_And into my garden stole_

_When the night had veiled the pole;_

_In the morning, glad, I see_

_My foe outstretched beneath the tree._

_-William Blake (Songs of Experience)_

* * *

The creature's life was dying down as its reserves were exhausting. Sage could tell, even though his armor's strength was being over-strained from the effort of killing the creature. The other Ronins and Warlords had chiseled it down to the pathetic beast it was, and the end was now. Even Cale's effort in keeping the creature from escaping was taking its toll on the creature, although Sage suspected that the Warlord had fainted with his arms clasped around the demon's mid-section. Sage had to admire his old rival's courage since he knew that contact with the creature cause the man pain.

But was it enough? Could, even after all the sacrifice that they all paid, would it banish the creature? No, he couldn't allow that. He must end it all right now.

That was when Sage noticed the large wound in the creature's ribs, right where Cale had sunk his clawed gauntlet. Taxing his sore muscles more, he pushed the creature away enough to reposition his sword so that it sunk through that same wound.

The scream from the creature was ten times louder and more horrible than before. The cry rattle Sage's bones and made Halo resound the scream like a tuning fork. But Sage pressed on.

The sword went deep, deeper as the creature continued to get closer to Robyn, until the hilt touched the dark chest. Sage let out a victorious yell as he enacted his surekill, pumping the shadow demon with the rage of the heavens. Lightning from the gathering clouds was attracted to the electricity of Halo, and poured down from the sky. It was a brilliant attacked, with the power of nature behind it.

The demon was torn apart by light; the darkness it was made of scattered and crawled into the tiniest crevice to never come into the light again. The remains of the creature, a small emaciated corpse, collapse, blind white eyes starring behind Sage, still on it's prey, it's one last chance for life.

Sage leaned on his no-dachi, letting the point sink into the mud. He started going through some breathing exercises in his head, trying to control his rapidly beating heart. But he couldn't, a laugh jumped out of his throat. It was bitter and tired, but still happy that the deed was done.

"Robyn," Sage remember, turning around. "Rowen, is Robyn okay?"

* * *

All sound was gone. All feeling was gone. Everything but her eyes was nothing. Those piercing green eyes that finally closed and the head rolled to the side.

The rain was still pouring down on him as it pounded on his armor, washing the blood away from his eye and face. But his body was still numb that he thought he didn't have a body anymore. Almost without thinking, he moved away from the edge of the construction hole, and onto his knees. He looked down at his hand, at the two remaining beads that he was about to catch before they fell. The only things he did save.

Protection. One of the beads echoed the promise he had made to Robyn, mocking his weakness. Next to it was the bead with the kanji "Life" on it. Another irony that tore him up inside.

"Rowen, is Robyn okay?"

The voice broke the spell that had fallen on him, and the sound of the rain came blaring into his ears. His hands trembled as he starred down at the beads, and his heart twisted in his chest. The realization of what happened hit him and he sunk deeper into the mud. The hurt inside him, struggled to be free, so he tilted his head back and cried out. He wailed his grief and frustration that he couldn't save the girl he loved. He continued his lament until there was no more air in his body, and then he didn't breath in. He wondered what would happen if he just stayed like this, without drawing breath again. Then a tear flowed out of his left eyes, mingling with the rain, and he drew in breath only to release it quickly in a sob.

"No," Sage voice said next to him. "No, Robyn."

Rowen cried out again, trying to release the pressure from his chest, to make this nightmare go away. The pain in his eyes, the pain of every injury he had every received, even combined, was nothing compared to the pain that was in his heart. He leaned forward and buried his face into his muddied hands, his forehead in the mud.

Sage fell as well, still in shock as he saw the broken body of their friend. The warrior that just minutes ago slain a terrible beast that haunted the dreams of children, now was trembling and crying in sorrow.

Rowen continued to sob, crying out to release the pain. He didn't know when he fell asleep, his dreams were either so real that he thought they were real, or that he was dreaming of reality. Blood falling like the rain, running into red hair and falling on the pale face that had those green eyes encased in the delicate eyelids. Her face staring up at him without fear. The beads were falling once more, his hand reaching for her. He screamed for her. Then he heard another cry, someone crying out just as he did, full of sorrow like a wolf in the wild. His eye hurt, and he tried to hold it, make sure the eyeball didn't fallout or tear into two. He tossed and turned, holding onto his face, tears pouring out of the other half that wouldn't stop. But the worst thing was his heart. It hurt not just emotionally, but physically too. He could see in his feverish dreams, a dark vein, like plant roots, growing around his heart, burying itself into his body and soul, and squeezing as if was holding onto him. He thrashed around, trying to tear whatever it was away. The pain was too much for him to bear, that he couldn't reach onto Robyn, who seemed to be in a never ending free fall in the bloody rain.

At last, a soft light penetrated his dream and peace settled over his spirit.

* * *

He opened both eyes, and the image before him was blurry, a green light. It took him a while to realize it was Sage, leaning over him with his armor orb in hand.. It took him even longer to realize that he was seeing through both eyes although they both were very blurry as if he needed glasses. Rowen sat up, and pushed Sage's hand away.

Sage's face was very somber, more so than usual, and his eyes had dark circles around them. "I healed whatever damage your eye took, but I didn't finish with the rest," he said in a raspy voice. He leaned forward again with the orb.

Rowen once again pushed the hand away. "I'm fine," he said harshly, and tried to get up onto his feet, but only made it in a sitting position. He noticed it wasn't night anymore, the sun was just barely starting to rise over the horizon. There was no more rain, but some clouds and the thick mud was still present. His armor was more brown than any other color, and he taste the grainy muck between his teeth.

"The others will probably come looking for us soon. Kento and Kayura are just over there," Sage told him, pointing to his left at two motionless forms. "I already checked them. They're unconscious, but seem okay. But when the others come. . ." Sage couldn't finish, and he looked away from the pit.

At the mention of what happened, Rowen braced himself for more tears. But they didn't come. He felt dead all over, cold and stiff like the dead.

"They don't know yet," he said, his voice just as dead as his body. He envied them, still thinking everyone was safe. When they found out, would he morn again, would he see their tears, and everything come spilling out once more. He didn't want to be there for that. He didn't want to be the one to tell them.

"How are we going to tell them?" Sage asked, his voice sounding so weak, as if he were the one in tears. Sage's haggard face looked up at Rowen, and Strata wondered if his face looked just as bad. "How are we going to tell Cye?"

Even though he and Cye didn't get along very well, they were still friends. But since the red-headed young woman had entered their lives, Rowen couldn't picture Cye without Robyn. Through the bearer of Torrent, they all had gotten to know Robyn. If she was there, Cye was there. They were like brother and sister, the closest to family she had ever had.

The thought of telling Cye what happened, to see his face as the realization that he wouldn't see her smile again, it would reflect Rowen's very face. To tell his side of the story would be reliving it once more, and the thought made him sick.

"I can't," Rowen told Sage.

"What do you mean, Rowen?"

"I can't do it. I can't face them and tell them what happened," Rowen told his friend positioning his face away. He didn't want Sage to see his face.

"C'mon Rowen. We need to keep it together. It's been. . . .It will be hard on the others," Sage told him, his words choking him. He had a hard time talking.

"Sorry, but I can't," Rowen said, and then he used his frustration to bolt away from his friend, running as fast as he could from the construction sight. He heard Ryo call out to him as he ran through the construction site on his way out of that horrible place.

On the streets, he wished it was still raining, the sun didn't fit in this warped world he was thrust into. But he continued to run. He didn't even bother to take off his armor.

People stared at him as he ran down the streets, but he didn't care. He only wanted to be far away from that place where life left him. He wanted to be somewhere safe, to fall out of this dark world and wake up where everything is alright. He didn't stop until he was home.

He locked the doors, and closed all the shades. With the house so dark, he took his armor off, but he was still cover with mud and blood. He look at the crusted blood on his face in the mirror with indifference. He got into the shower, and sat down as the water fell on him. Much like the ran last night. The rain that made everything muddy and slick, that kept him from being able to hold her hand.

Alone, he stared at the tile in the shower, not really seeing it. He just stared, and replayed everything in his mind. He couldn't really tell if he was crying or not, the water from the shower swept everything from his face. His eyes were already swollen from crying last night, so he couldn't feel the difference. But he could still feel the pain, the only thing that kept him from going completely numb.

After a long time, he cleaned the blood and mud from him, and put on some clean clothes. He went into his room, still messy from whoever slept in it yesterday. He collapsed onto the bed, and curled up with his pillow and blanket. He didn't sleep, just stared up at the ceiling where his glow in the dark stars were. He stayed like that for a long time, not really doing anything. Time was nothing to him. It could have just been minutes or hours or days from the time he stared at nothing.

The door bell rang, but he didn't move to answer it. He didn't care who it was. He didn't want to see anything. It rang again, and a hand hit against the wood. Still he didn't move. They would leave, thinking nobody was home.

The front door creaked from being opened. Sage knew where the spare key was hidden, Rowen remember, but he still didn't move.

The knob of his bedroom door jiggled, but it didn't move. He had locked his bedroom door as he always did before he went to bed. It was from habit that he had done that.

"Rowen, I know you're in there," Sage called out in a soft voice. "Please open the door."

Rowen still didn't move, his eyes were stuck on one star, one that was near the darkest corner. It wasn't dark enough to see them glow, but this one was starting to shine a bit.

"Rowen, you shouldn't stay in there all by yourself," Sage said, his voice starting to crack. "We all are going through what you're feeling. Please come out."

Rowen closed his eyes, and rolled his back toward the door, positioning the pillow around his ears. He didn't want to hear whatever Sage was saying. It wasn't true. Nobody else had to re-watch the image of Robyn falling. Nobody was going through what he was. Nobody else loved her like he did. Sage didn't know anything.

Rowen couldn't hear Sage's voice anymore, but he heard banging on his door. Then the front door opening and closing, leaving him alone again. Since he had rolled over, he stared at the wall instead. His window was in that direction, and so was the pile of school books ready to be studied with. But he didn't look at them. All he could see was that scene still rewinding and playing over and over again as the red hair mingled with mud and blood, and green eyes staring up at him.

Darkness came, and he only left his room to go to the bathroom. He didn't feel like doing anything else. And sleep didn't come easy to him, his heart started to ache again, constraining against something and giving him nightmares beyond anything he had ever had. He wrapped himself tighter in his blanket, not caring how much he sweat in the confined space, but just held on to his pillow. Finally when the sun started to come up, he drifted in and out of half-hour timed naps, staring at the wall whenever he was conscious. Hours must have passed again, he couldn't tell when the knock came at his door.

He didn't answer, whoever it was couldn't come in. There was no way they could come in here and see him, try to make him feel better and say they were feeling the same as he did. They wanted him to talk about it, to tell him what exactly what had happened. But he couldn't do that. He didn't want to tell them that he had failed to protect her. He didn't want them to know.

The door handle jiggled in it's place, and then clicked open. Rowen recalled that Kento had a knack of getting into locked doors. Was it him? Were they all there? Rowen curled tighter in a ball, like a child. He didn't want to see them, and they wouldn't force him to look. But they would talk to him.

He heard their footsteps on his carpet, and the squeaking of the floorboards on certain spots, but nobody talked. Strangely, he felt the opposite side of his bed sink down, and someone laid down next to him. Others, it sounded like, were sitting down around his bed, leaning against it. He felt someone's head near his feet. Right by his face, someone walked and sat down. From the rusty brown hair, he knew it was Cye. Someone sighed, and then everything was quiet. Nobody moved.

Rowen couldn't see who was next to him or if everyone was there. His head was buried under his blanket. He could only see the blinding white wall. But the sound of breathing filled the air, steady and calm.

So calm that it was driving him crazy. Why weren't they talking to him? What were they doing here, just to sit around his bed like it was a slumber party? Why didn't they just leave him alone if this all they were going to do?

After minutes had passed, or it could have been hours, Rowen decided to speak. "Aren't you going to ask me what happened?" His voice was rough and hollow from inactivity and his melancholy feelings.

There was a long pause of silence, as if everyone was hoping the other would answer.

Right next to Rowen face, Cye was the one who answered. "Only when you're ready," he said calmly. Cye voice was different. It was soft and weak, as if it was ready to give in. But it was also the opposite. It was strong and didn't falter. He accepted what had happened, and was just waiting to know why. "We won't make you talk about it, but when you're ready we'll be right here."

Rowen didn't know why, but hearing that come from Cye made him feel better; it didn't make it hurt so much. But it also reminded him that Cye was the only family Robyn had. Cye would be the one judging his actions the most. Rowen still didn't feel like leaving his cocoon and telling what happened. He would wait them out.

Unfortunately his body wouldn't let him. Even though he hadn't eaten or drank anything since before that rainy night, he still needed to relieve himself. Dragging the blanket with him to cover his face, he left the room with the four friends inside.

When he came back, he was finally able to see everyone. They all looked as terrible as he felt. Sage, who now sat on the bed, had rings under his eyes, and his hair was the messiest Rowen had ever seen. Kento and Ryo didn't look much better, except they had bandages where they had been hurt. But Rowen took a step back when he saw that Cye wasn't where he used to be. Right in the door way, they young brown haired man stood, staring at Rowen with pleading green eyes.

Rowen stared into those green eyes, and everything else melted away till they were her eyes looking up into his, helpless and afraid.

"R-Robyn," Rowen rasped, his good eye blurring from water welling up. "Cye, I'm sorry. I couldn't save her. I tried so hard, but she. . .I held on as long as I could. I couldn't. . ." That was as far as he could go before his throat constricted too much, and the tears fell from his eyes.

Never in his life did he ever think that Cye would be the one to comfort him, but he didn't pull away when Cye put his hands on Rowen's shoulders.

"I know, Rowen," he told his friend. "I know you tried. It's okay." Cye's eyes were spilling tears as well.

The words Cye said, in a blameless tone, was the one thing he needed. The images that kept replaying in his mind was a little more blurry, and little less graphic. The pain wasn't gone, but he felt safe with his friends there. He was ready to tell his story.

* * *

They had all been calm and patient as Rowen slowly told his side of the story. More tears were shed than any other time they had been together, even Sage who was the most stoic and Kento who tried to be the strong one and grew frustrated with the fact he wasn't there to help. After that, Cye had cooked them something to eat, nothing fancy like the last time Rowen ate. It was just a prepackaged dish. Rowen didn't know what it was, he just ate it and couldn't taste it. It was late by then, and before everyone left, Ryo pulled everyone into a group hug. He had been the one that cried the most, being the leader he had harnessed a lot of the blame just as Rowen did.

"The funeral will be the day after tomorrow," Cye told Rowen solemnly, putting his jacket on. "I really would like you to be there, to be one of the palm bearers."

Rowen nodded at the invitation, and saw everyone off. The last one to the door was Sage, who had quietly stayed by his friends side. He knew more than anyone why Rowen was suffering as much as he was. Rowen told Sage everything, even his secret feelings for the red-head. Sage knew how much Robyn meant to the taller young man.

"Everything will be all right," Sage told his best friend, putting a hand on the thin shoulder. "We can get through this."

Rowen put a hand up to his face, hiding the scar that was forming down his eye, ashamed of what he would say next. "Sage, could you. . .My mom's out of town and won't be back for a few more days."

Sage understood what Rowen was trying to say. He stepped back inside and closed the door.

"I'm here for you, Rowen," Sage told him, letting Rowen sniff a few times to himself.

That night, they did something they hadn't done since they were in elementary. Crammed on Rowen's twin bed, they slept near each other. Sage every once in a while would wake up suddenly to hear Rowen whimper or cry out in his sleep, holding onto his chest as if in pain, but slept on fitfully from the haunted dreams that possessed him.

* * *

Rowen had only been to one other funeral, for some grandparent he hadn't known very well when he was younger. He could hardly remember what happened, but he remembered looking into the coffin to see the body, crinkled and positioned to look peaceful. Robyn's funeral wasn't open casket. Somehow it made him feel better to not see her face, he could just pretend that it wasn't her in there. It was just a large box.

Cye and his mom stood at the front, welcoming the guests to the viewing. Next to them, the remainder of the Ronins stood every once in a while greeting someone. Kami was one of the first people there. Others that came were teachers and a few students that talked to Robyn in school. But there really wasn't that many people there, since she had only been in Japan for less than a year.

Near the coffin was a table of pictures. Rowen had shuffled over to look at this. There were many picture laying on the white linen cloth while others were framed and leaned against the wall or on picture holders. Each picture held the sweet looking red head, smiling up at whoever held the camera. In almost every picture, was another familiar face. The time she and Kento had climbed up in a tree and Kento was holding onto her while they sat in a branch. At the prom when Sage had surprised everyone in his tuxedo to dance with her. An old picture of Cye and Robyn when they were children, dirty from playing around in the dirt and grass. A scene from when Robyn tried to play soccer with Ryo, and jumped onto his back to get the ball. Finally, Rowen stopped on one that he remembered well. The group had gone on a hike up into the woods a few weekends ago, and took a lunch. Most of them had been up the night before studying for a test, and had fallen asleep in the warm sunshine. Robyn, always one who needed to be warm, and curled up against the closest source of heat. The Rowen in the picture was laying peacefully next to her, his eyes half open in a happy half-nap state. Robyn's arm was around his chest and her face was laying on his shoulder. His arm was around hers, and a content smile was on his face. Being who he was, Rowen had been too tired to realize what was happening, and had only raised his head long enough to look at whoever held the camera and then went back to sleep.

Rowen picked up the picture, and looked at it close. He didn't remember much about what had happened afterward, but he wished that he could have been awake more, to be able to hold Robyn there. Without thinking, Rowen slipped the photo into his pocket, not caring if anyone saw him taking it.

Soon after, they started the part of the funeral where they talk about Robyn. Cye's mom talked for a while, and then Cye. Cye choked up a lot while speaking, pausing ever few sentences to gather his wits and continue on. After Cye, people were invited to say something about the deceased. Kento was the first to get up, after which Kami went, then Ryo and Sage. Then everything was quiet. Rowen didn't really register what everyone said, but he had carefully taken the picture out of his pocket and had looked at it through everyone's speeches. Then he realized everyone was waiting for him, waiting for him to get up and say something. Hesitating, he stood up and shuffled to the podium.

"R-Robyn was. . .She was. . ." Rowen stuttered. He tried to look around the room at everyone, but with his one blurry eye, it was hard to see some of the people without completely turning his head around. He wasn't nervous about talking to so many people, he just couldn't seem to put his thoughts into words, to tell them what Robyn meant to him and what the world will be missing without her.

"She was an angel. A very clumsy and loud angel," Rowen said with a chuckle, wondering why he was saying something so random. "Her presence was the greatest impact in my life, and I won't ever forget her. She will be missed very much." And left it at that, he had no more of it in him to stay composed.

Slowly, all five Ronins, went over to the coffin and picked it up to carry it to the hearst. Not everyone went to the cemetery, it was just a smaller group that knew Robyn the best, and a crew to help lower the coffin.

As he watch the wooden box lower into the earth, Rowen's brain went a little numb. Reality seemed to warp right in front of him, and he thought that it was someone else down there. Tomorrow at school, he would turn the corner and he would see Robyn wave to him with Cye at her side, complaining about math tests and his horrible jokes. But he knew better than to give false hopes into those images and to dream about the impossible, and pushed them away.

Just as the funeral services were about to shovel the earth back into it's place, Cye walked up to the hole. Using his right hand, he slowly removed something from his left wrist, the wood beaded bracelet that Robyn had made him, painted with care the words that reminded her of Cye. He held it above the grave. Kento was right behind him to mimic his friend, a solemn expression on his face that didn't look like it should fit him. Ryo and Sage came up simultaneously, holding out their own colored bracelets. Rowen reacher into his jacket pocket. Next to the picture he took, was two dark blue beads that never left his possession since that night. "Life" and "Protection" was the only thing he had left from the gift she made for him. The others were ready to let go of that gift, to move on and put the accident in the past.

Rowen was ready too, he lifted up his one bead "life" with one hand and held it over the hole. Simultaneously, they all let go. The heavier bracelets fell first, with a loud clunk on the casket, and later the small drop of the one bead, and then another as it bounce against the wood before it fell into the earth. Even though Rowen knew they didn't do it on purpose, he felt there was some distance between his friends and himself. He was different than they were, with his one bead to offer to the grave, to the memory of their friend.

In one shovelful, the beads were covered and forever in the possession of the earth.

As one, the Ronins turned around and left the still not completely covered grave. They walked to the cars they came in, ready to put this day behind them. But before they could leave, a small group of people was in their way. They were all surprised to see Kayura in a black dress and Sekhmet and Dais in suits. In Kayura's hands was a bouquet of white lilies.

"We didn't know if it would be appropriate if we came to the funeral, but I thought we could at least leave an offering," Kayura explain almost apologetically, her head lowered.

Cye looked at them with a sad grateful face. He bowed to them. "Thank you. That was very kind of you."

Kayura bowed back. "I'm sorry," she apologized again. "We all were planning to come, but Cale has been missing for a few days now," she explained the absence of the third Warlord. "However maybe it was better he didn't come."

Kayura looked up at Sage with a shameful look, and then dropped her head again. "I would like to apologize once again, Halo. It was. . ."

"It's all right," Sage interrupted her curtly.

Rowen glanced at his friend, who's face was stone stoic and his eyes were narrowed at some shared secret they seemed to be sharing. Rowen wondered if something had happened during the time he had been moping in his room, shut away from everyone else's problems.

The three moved away from them toward the grave without another word, the Warlords not even saying anything.

As they start to go their separate ways, Sage moves along side Rowen. He had been staying with Rowen since there was no one else to be there for him.

But as they started to Rowen's house, Rowen told him, "You don't have to stay with me. My mom will be coming home later tonight." Rowen's words were flat, without any tone or fluctuation.

"Are you sure you'll be okay until then?" Sage asked in a concerned voice.

Rowen nodded, his hair drooping over his eyes, over the vertical scar that impaired his vision slightly. It bothered him that all he could see out of his left eye was just blurs, so sometimes he would force his other eye to go out of focus to match the two. And when he did that, he would start to drift back into his thoughts. The scar, the injury reminded him of the night. Sometimes he wondered why he didn't let Sage heal it entirely, why he pushed his friend away. But then sometimes he believed he deserved the wound, he deserved any pain he received from it. It just wasn't fair that he was the one that lived. He should have been the one that died.

When he focused his right eye back to perspective, Sage was gone. He was alone.

* * *

Nights were starting to get easier for him. In his dreams, he would just surrender to the darkness. He was tired of fighting. The pain in his eye and heart started to subside, and he could sleep. The blood in his dreams started to fade and she stopped falling with beads floating all around her. The dreams were less real. But the green eyes never stopped staring up at him. Sometimes there were all he could see the entire night.

The night after Robyn's funeral, he heard scratching at his window. It sounded like the ghastly howl of the demon that took away his angel and put her in the ground. He woke up with a start, and the howling continued even after his dreams stopped. But then the howl didn't sound so animal like and then not like howling at all. He turned to his window, and saw a hand scratching at the screen and glass. Without thinking, he opened it up.

"It'shabout time," a familiar deep slurred voice said. "I thought I'd havetah break in tah getsh your attention."

"What do you think you're doing?" Rowen hissed through the screen.

"Yo, Strata. Just lookin' for a place tah stay," Cale shouted, a bottle in his hand that suggested why his voice was slurred.

"Go back to the other Warlords then," Rowen told him. He was not in the mood to mess with a drunken Cale.

Cale spat at that suggestion and grabbed the window frame. "If ya won't let me in, I'll just help myself."

Rowen was afraid that the ruckus Cale was making would wake his mother, and then there would be a lot of explaining going on. Instead, he quickly grabbed a jacket, put on some socks and quietly ran out the door. He was able to pull the Warlord away from the window just in time. The two fell to the grass, and Cale's bottle of liquor broke against a rock spilling it all over.

"Ah, now look what you've done," Cale said, looking at the lost liquid as it was soaked into the ground. "Now you're going to have to buy me a new one."

Rowen couldn't have felt any angrier. "No, I'm not," he whispered harshly at the warlord. "For one, I'm a minor and I can't. Two, I'm not the one who woke you up in the middle of the night drunk. And three why are you here anyway? Don't you know what happened today? Don't you remember what happened?" Rowen felt like hitting Cale, taking out all of his frustrations out on the dark warrior.

"Go ahead," Cale growled. He looked up at the Ronin with animal like eyes. He looked like an animal. His face was unshaven and his hair was messy and unkempt, falling into his face.

Rowen looked quizzically at the man in front of him. Could he read his thoughts?

"You want to hit something, don't you?" Cale was talking louder now. "Go ahead and hit me. Take your best shot. I won't stop you." Cale was almost yelling out the last words before he calmed down. "It won't make the pain go away."

Rowen clenched his fists, ready to do just what Cale challenged him to do. It would have felt so good. But instead he sat down in the cold grass and put his head down. "Will it ever go away?" he asked.

"It will. But sometimes it will come back to haunt you," Cale told the younger man.

Rowen hugged his knees to his chest. "It's different now. The world and my friends are different. I don't see them the same way," he ranted, not sure if he made sense or not. He covered his good eye, and he couldn't see anything in the dark. "I can't go back to the way things were, it's too different." He paused, waiting for something. "You said that you lost someone. What did you do after. . ."

Cale smiled bitterly. "I did just what you're doing, kid? I crawled into a ball and mourned." Then Cale concentrated on his hand. "I couldn't keep the pain away, so I did something to keep my mind off of it. I went after the person responsible for her death."

Rowen didn't move. "Revenge doesn't solve anything," he told the dark man. "Besides, that demon that was responsible for Robyn's. . . It's gone."

"You're wrong."

Rowen glared at the drunken man, wondering why he was listening to his ranting. He stood up, and started to walk back to the house.

"Halo killed her."

"Shut up!" Rowen shouted, rethinking punching Cale's face. "You're a freakin' psycho, ya know that?"

"Fine don't take my word for it," Cale yelled back, the same harsh smile on his countenance. "But just ask yourself this question. Why wasn't Halo with Robyn at that time?"

"What are you talking about?" Rowen shouted, forgetting about telling Cale to be quiet. "Sage was right behind me when she fell." He had a hard time saying it.

"No, before that," Cale told him, his eyes narrowing. Whatever effect the alcohol had on him seemed to disappear, and he looked very serious. "When you were up on the beams, where was he when the demon attacked Robyn? Hmm?"

Rowen couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this Warlord actually trying to turn him against his best friend? He then remembered that Kayura and Sage gave each other a glance when mentioning Cale. Did Cale accuse this to Sage's face?

"You're crazy. Ever since you came here, you've been fixated on Sage and how horrible he is," Rowen shouted, then he thought everything over. "You knew something like this would happen," Rowen whispered harshly, looking at the jackal in the eye. "You knew, and that's why you tried to warn me. You knew!"

Cale became very passive at the accusation, holding onto his temple and looking away.

"You knew. How could you have known?" Rowen shouted, grabbing the Warlord by the collar and hefting him to his feet. "You could have done something. So why didn't you?"

"I didn't know what exactly would happen. All I knew was that it was all Halo's fault. And now it's your fault for not listening to. . ."

Rowen couldn't hold it in. He slammed his fist into Cale's jaw, and tossed him to the ground. "Get out of here!" Rowen shouted, tears coming to his eyes. "Get out of here now!"

Cale stood up unsteadily, whipping away the blood around his lips.

A light turned on in Rowen's house, and the door opened up.

"Is someone out there?" Rowen's mom called out. She looked around and saw her son standing in the grass alone. "Rowen, what are you doing out here?"

Rowen was breathing heavily, his hear thumping in his chest. He had been so angry, he had worked himself into a sweat.

His mother came up to him, and checked his forehead worriedly. "Honey, are you okay?" she asked, smoothing down the blue locks.

"I'm fine mom," he answered, his eyes turning down. "I just couldn't sleep, and I came out here."

"Was there someone else here?" she asked, looking around. "I thought I heard someone yelling."

"Ah, it was me," Rowen explained, half lying. He left the explanation as it was.

His mother just learned about the accident today, but she understood that her son was going through a rough time. She accepted Rowen's word, and didn't go more into it. "Come inside before you get sick," she told him, pushing him gently inside. "Let me make you some tea. Perhaps that will help you sleep more."

"Thanks mom. I hope it will."

* * *

Rowen had already missed a few days of school, but his mother didn't push him into going back until he felt like it. He took the offer, and stayed home the next day as well. While his mother went to her office, he laid in bed. After a while, he didn't feel like staying in his room. More to keep his body moving, he started cleaning random things and working random jobs. While he was, his thoughts were moving from Cale's words to the events of the night of the demon.

Where was Sage when Robyn was alone?

Rowen recalled that Sage was half-way up the building skeleton, on his way to rescue Rowen from the demon. But it didn't really make sense. Why would he come? Robyn was the main priority. Why did he leave her?

_He was jealous._

The thought popped into his mind without much effort. He immediately denied the thought, berating himself for even thinking of such a thing. Besides, that didn't make sense. If he was jealous, why would he leave Robyn? He wouldn't have helped Rowen.

Rowen shook his head. Why was he having such dark thoughts? He couldn't believe some of the subjects that crawled around in his mind, and it left him feeling bad. He tried to think of other things, but he continued to go back to Sage.

No matter how much he thought, he couldn't think of a reason for Sage to leave Robyn. Sage was wise, he knew what needed to be done in any situation. He wasn't weighed down with emotions as many of them were, and kept a cool head in dire moments. There must have been a reason for Sage to have abandoned Robyn.

_He didn't want you to have her._

Rowen turned around quickly, swearing that he heard someone say something. There was nobody else in the house. Everything was quiet. Rowen felt his heart pounding as he scanned the room carefully. But after a while, he questioned if he really heard anything at all.

"Am I going mad?" Rowen asked himself. He had heard of people going crazy, hearing and seeing things, after they've experienced a traumatic event in their life. Was he going through that? What was he suppose to do? Ignore it and continue to act like it didn't happen?

No, he couldn't do that. He knew that would never solve things. Then what?

An obvious answer would be to go talk with someone. He couldn't go to his mother, she didn't know about the armors, and couldn't understand what he went through. Sage was closest to him, so he should go talk to his best friend. But for some reason it didn't seem right to go talk to Sage after what happened with Robyn.

Once again Rowen berated himself for thinking such things. Why should that make a difference whether he should talk to Sage or not. It wasn't Sage's fault, it wasn't any of their faults. Why did he keep thinking like this?

_He betrayed you._

He realized Cale's words had a larger effect on him. Was he starting to believe Cale? Was he really questioning his best friend's honor? Rowen's mind was racing through all his thoughts, trying to come up with an answer that will solve everything. But this wasn't an ordinary science or math problem where there was an equation or a logical solution. It all came down to one thing. Rowen needed to talk to Sage.

"Sage," Rowen told the emptiness. Something stirred within him, and his mental image of Sage shifted to someone he could not trust, so someone he started to suspect. He tried not to, but Sage started to look tarnished in his mind's eye.

Rowen sat down and covered his eyes, wondering what he was doing to himself. He was going crazy, hearing voices and believing that Sage was a murderer.

The word just popped into his head. _Murderer._ It was just getting worse and worse, the more he thought about it. He had to stop thinking about it.

And yet, he didn't want to stop. Something inside him was whispering to his soul that these thoughts weren't far from the truth. The more he thought about it, the likelier it seemed. Could Sage really have been responsible for Robyn's death?

Rowen felt like he was being twisted around from both ends and being shaped into a knot, his insides seemed to be moving all over causing emotional pain. He had to talk to Sage. He had to, now.

Rowen looked at the clock, there was still a few hours of class. Sage, the ever diligent one, had gone to school that day. And to add to that, he always went to his father's dojo to help out with classes and practice. He would have to wait a while, but he wondered if he could make it. The insanity of his mind was agony against his soul. He decided to go right to the dojo as soon as he could.

* * *

The parking lot of the dojo was almost empty, most of the students were either picked up or had driven home. Rowen recognized Sage's dad's car, but the others must belong to the other teachers. Rowen hoped that hardly anyone would still be in the dojo. He had walked there from his house, since it wasn't far. The skies were a dark grey, but he was lucky that no rain had fallen. He wouldn't be lucky on the way home. He didn't want to walk in the rain. The rain held too many bad memories for him. He went inside and all of the panels had been moved to the side leaving the whole room empty. In the middle of the practice room was Sage, moving quickly through sword patterns. In his hand was his grandfather's sword. Rowen knew that Sage usually practiced with the wooden swords from the dojo, but every now and then he would bring his grandfather's sword to practice with. The sword was heavier and was a different length, so Sage had to concentrate more on his movements. He usually did this in times of stress.

Rowen waited by the door, watching as Sage gracefully leapt and swung the sword around. At times, the blade would come within inches of cutting the wielder, the strokes were timed perfectly. When Sage was finished, he wiped his face off with a towel around his shoulders and looked questioningly at Rowen.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Sage asked, walking toward his friend.

"Uh. . .fine," Rowen said, not really telling the truth. "How's it with you?"

"I'm good," Sage told him. He took a rag out of his pocket and started to rub down the sword in his hands. "So, do you need to talk to me?"

Rowen nodded. He tried to start, but didn't know where. If he mentioned Cale. . . No, that would be wrong. Could he start with that night, to the point where Sage wasn't with Robyn? Could he even say her name? His throat was stuck, and his vocal cords were too constricted.

"Is it about that night?" Sage asked, guessing that Rowen was having trouble.

Rowen nodded again. "It has something to do with it," he said carefully. "That night, I was up in the beams. I thought that I was going to die. I really did."

"But you didn't," Sage told, honestly worried about his friend. This kind of talk wasn't like him.

"Because you came. You came up to rescue me from that demon," Rowen told him, and faced the warrior of light. "Why? Why did you leave Robyn to come save me?"

Sage was stunned. "I. . ."

"Tell me the truth. Why did you leave Robyn alone?!" Rowen demanded.

Sage turned away, lowering both his hands with the rag and sword clenched in both. "You were in trouble. I went to save you," he responded.

"That's not good enough," Rowen half-yelled, his emotions starting to boil up. "You're a trained warrior. You have a fighter's instinct. You should have known protecting Robyn was more important." Sage didn't look back at Rowen or make any move to look him in the eye. "Was Cale telling the truth about you?"

Sage quickly turned around, his eyes wide. "What did Cale say about me?" Sage yelled with such anger that Rowen stepped back. Sage calmed down a bit. "Has Cale been talking to you? What has he been saying?"

"I think you know," Rowen told him. "Isn't that why Kayura apologized, because Cale accused you of killing Robyn?" The words leapt out of his mouth too late to take them back.

Sage looked as if he'd been punched. "Cale said that to you?" Sage asked unbelieving.

"Yeah, he did," Rowen said bitterly, looking away with shame. "So I'll ask you again, what was your real reason for leaving Robyn? Did you really hate her that much? Or was it me you hated?" Something inside Rowen was taking over his tongue, spouting such accusations that left a bitter taste in his mouth.

"What are you talking about Rowen?" Sage asked, he was shaking from the words Rowen shot at him. "It's not true."

Rowen saw Sage's shaking. Was he shaking because he was scared? Was Cale right, and Sage was afraid of being found out? "I had her hand," Rowen told Sage, remembering distinctly that night. He spoke to the ground, his voice full of darkness. "It slipped out of mine. I reached out. I would have caught her, but something held me back. I couldn't reach her, and she fell." Rowen glared at Sage, his eyes turning a darker blue. "You held me back. You didn't want me to save her."

Sage suddenly realized that Rowen wasn't well. Something was wrong with him, something that happened during that time he locked himself away in his mind. He had changed, not just mentally but physically as well. There seemed to be a dark aura surrounding his blue one. "Rowen, don't believe it. I wanted to save Robyn as much as you." He reached out to grab Rowen by the shoulder.

"Don't touch me, liar," Rowen threatened.

Sage wasn't going to obey. He needed to help Rowen, anyway he could. He cautiously touched Rowen's shoulder.

From years of battle experience, Rowen flung out his fist in a powerful punch, connecting it with Sage's right check bone.

Instinct kicked in as Sage felt the blow. Automatically he lifted his right hand to counterattack and protect himself from any other blows. But he was still gripping his grandfather's sword.

Blood splattered on the practice mats and Rowen cried out in pain. He held onto his face, trying to keep the wound from bleeding even more.

"Rowen. . .I. . ." Sage stuttered, shocked at what had happened. "It. . .It was an accident." Sage let go of the sword and it clattered to the floor, blood starting to dry on the steel. Sage told a step toward Rowen. "We have to get you to a hospital."

Rowen saw Sage coming near him, a demon of light coming to pretend to be his friend. For once in his life, Rowen was afraid of his best friend.

Never had Sage regretted anything else when he saw Rowen remove his hand, fear contorting his face and the gash across his left cheek making him look as if he were crying blood.

Rowen was on his feet before Sage could stop him. Slamming into the door, he opened it and ran out into pouring rain. The clouds couldn't wait any longer to release their load, showing Rowen.

_No, it's true._

Rowen raced through the streets, his feet crashing into puddles, soaking his shoes and socks.

_It's true. Sage is a murderer._

Where would he go? What would Sage do to him? Would he be safe at home? What was he going to do?

_Sage killed Robyn. She's dead because of him._

Rowen pounded up the steps of his porch, and quickly opened the front door to lock it behind him. He rested his back against the door, ignoring the water and blood dripping onto his clothes and the floor.

_He killed Robyn._

That thought echoed through his entire body until he thought that he could hear it as well. He walked into the bathroom, reaching for a towel to clean off his face.

"He killed her," Rowen said, to himself. He repeated it, anger taking hold of him. "He killed her!" In anger, he punched the mirror in front of him. Spider web cracks scattered across the glass, pieces breaking off and tinkling to the counter. Rowen felt some of the glass cut into his fist, ripping at the skin and nerves. "Sage killed her," he whispered feircely, holding the wet towel to his face.

_What are you going to do about it?_

Rowen could have swore he heard someone say it, but he knew he was alone.

"What can I do?" Rowen asked himself.

_You can avenge her death. Bring justice to the one who killed her._

"No, I can't do that," Rowen told the voice. He reached into his back pocket and withdrew the one thing he kept with him at all times. The dark blue orb with the life kanji floating inside that held the power of the armor of Strata. "I can't. I am Strata, the warrior of life."

_But you want to._

"Yes," Rowen whispered, narrowing his eye that wasn't covered. "I want to kill Sage."

_What if I could help you?_

Rowen opened his eye wider. The voice he assumed was his own, referred to itself as "I". Was there really someone there?

"Who are you?" he asked the cracked mirror.

_Does it matter, as long as I can help you?_

Rowen thought about that. "No, it doesn't."

_Good._

"How can you help me kill Sage?" Rowen asked the voice.

_The armor you hold won't let you take the one you hate's life. But I can take you to someone who will give you the power to over throw Strata's hold on you and give you the power to kill Halo._

"You can do that?" Rowen asked. "Who is this person?"

_Look into the mirror._

Rowen lowered the towel, expecting to see someone there. All he saw was his own face, scared twice, once down his left eye, the other a fresh wound crossing the old one. Rowen couldn't believe the coincidence of the wounds. Was he the one. . .

The room started to grow darker until it was no longer a bathroom. The walls faded to black, and Rowen felt as if he was no longer standing on anything solid. He continued to look forward, watching as something started to appear in front of him. Stunned, he couldn't move as he recognized the armor in front of him, something he thought he would never see ever again.

"This is the man who will teach me?" Rowen asked in unbelief. "But how is this possible?"

_It's all a matter of time. You now have plenty of it to prepare yourself._

Suddenly, everything fell into place for Rowen. The cuts on his cheek that he knew will turn into distinct scars. He threw back his head, and laughed at the situation.

"Oh, this is perfect," Rowen growled, a dark smile creeping across his face. "This is perfect."

"Come my warrior," the figure before him beckoned. "I've summoned you to perform a great cause for me."

Rowen took a step forward, his smile widening. As he stepped through space and time, he opened his hand and let the Strata orb fall through the darkness. It faded away as its master walked into oblivion.

"You have much darkness in your heart," the evil armed demon told Rowen. "That is exactly what I need. What is your name?"

Rowen looked into the hollow battle mask of Talpa. "My name is Cale."


	8. Chapter 7: The Corruption of Cale

Changes in Destiny

Chapter 7: The Corruption of Cale

By Hatashi Kitty AKA Emilou

Cale's POV:

_It is a hard thing, knowing your future. It is a hard thing, trying to care for a cause that you know will fail. It is a hard thing to pretend you are someone else and forget who you were. And it is a hard thing to carry a grudge for so long, and not getting any closer finishing it. This was my life with Talpa._

_I did what I was told. I was completely obedient. That is what he wanted from me, and that was the price I paid for Darkness. And Corruption. For that is what I am now. I traded my Ronin soul to become Corruption so I could have the only thing left for me. My revenge. It was merely the means to an end._

_The only thing that wasn't difficult about my new life, was my armor. It felt different than strata, but not in a bad way. If felt. . .right. There was still some pain, but it seemed to only be when I thought of a girl with red hair. . .I forgot her name. But she was beautiful. _

_There were times when I did miss my old life. I remembered it was easier back then. There was happiness and laughter, something that my new life was very short on. But I knew that I could never go back. Sometimes at night time, when my head was the most clear, I would look at the stars and I would miss Strata. But that, too, faded over time._

_For over a thousand years, I was Cale. Before he was even born, Rowen of Strata died. That oxymoron amused me at times between battles. There was nothing else for me to do but wait for this tedious war to end. It was like watching a never ending story where you knew all the plot twits and the ending. _

_There were still parts of Rowen left after the transition. I was still very analytical, and curious over how I arrived in the past. I doubted that Talpa had the power to manipulate time. Maybe if he combined the armors he could, but he wasn't the one who did it. I sometimes thought that it was the armor itself who summoned me, that I was the best candidate to wear it and it needed me like I needed it. _

_It didn't take me long to figure out that it was the armor's voice I was hearing before, the one that told me of Halo's treachery. It was a strong and deep voice, and I could hear it louder when I had the armor on. After that last day when I forgone being a Ronin Warrior, it didn't talk to me as much. Just a reassuring sentence here and there, telling me to be patient and that my day of revenge would come. I would have what I wanted._

_There weren't many events that I remembered being a Warlord during those many years. Even being immortal, it is hard to remember events that long ago. There is one memory I have when I was first introduced to the other Warlords. I must have been a sight then with my face and hand dripping with blood, my haggard and starved body looking out through hollow eyes and my hair and clothes wet and sticking to my body. I wondered if they were also surprised that I was chosen to be a Warlord, a pitiful looking scarecrow of a teenager who looked as weak as I did._ _The three other armors were there: Crulety, Venom and Illusion. And to my surprise, so was the metallic orange armor of Hardrock._

_Out of the four armors there, only Anubis I recognized. The three others died in battle. Hardrock was recovered by the Ronin Warriors of that generation and soon Sekhmet and Dais would become new Warlords._

_Another event that I can remember was the day that I first killed a man. I can remember everything about his face as he died, the exact expression, how long he held a look of terror and pain, and then peace. It was my first battle that it happened. I was with Talpa's service for a while since I had to train with my new armor. I had trouble using a long sword after the light bow and arrow of Strata. But one thing that came naturally was the Black Lightning Attack. Oh, how good it felt to be completely surrounded by Darkness. It was the closest thing I had to being content as Cale. As soon as I had mastered my weapon, I was sent into battle with my own battalion of soldiers._

_That man, when I spilt his blood, I saw a vision. My chest hurt when I saw it, but never had I held onto something so painful. A beautiful red-haired angel who was crying is what I saw. And such sadness was in her green, green eyes. Nausea washed over me and I fell without a blow on the battlefield. I retched. The single thought went through me over and over again. _I am a murdered_. _

What did you expect on the path you have chosen?_ that strange voice asked me, sounding like a laugh._

But this man is innocent,_ I thought back._

No one is innocent on a battlefield. It's kill or die in this world.

_At that point, I almost turned back. I almost forsake my revenge. The man who had just died from my hands had done nothing to me. He knew nothing of my pain. He wasn't the one responsible for my love's death. _Then why did I kill him.

This is the only way to Halo,_ the voice said, and I knew it was true._

_I did not kill again that day. Instead I argued with myself (or was it the armor) for hours and hours, my brain being tortured from this moral dilemma. It was true, if I didn't kill that man he most likely would have died anyway by another's hand. A single soldier isn't responsible for war victims. _

_But I was no longer innocent. The last of my old virtue was quickly fading away, and I could have recovered it. No, I could no longer be a Ronin after that, but I could have lived in peace._ _I could have started over and lived a normal life in that time til the day I died, forgetting about Halo and green-eyed angels._

_But the voice won me over._

He did it once. Halo will do it again," _the voice told me. _He will hurt more people.

_When I came back from reality, I had unknowingly found my way back to Talpa's castle. I made my decision, and there forever became Warlord. My hands were forever stained with the constant flowing of soldier's blood._

_After that, the killing became easier. Each opponent became a hollow face, a manikin, a practice dummy that I could slice my sword through like paper. I became emotionless and dead as I mowed down the hundreds of men that opposed the side of evil._

_As for the Ronins of that time, they were a harder challenge. The first time I met one, I almost died. The battlefield was fresh and the soldiers were few. The other Warlords thought that this skirmish wouldn't take that long. But not too far away, another armor appeared. Brilliant red and surrounded by fire, it was Wildfire. For a moment, my eyes became clouded with the past and I saw my old leader with clear blue eyes and raven hair. I could almost see his approving smile, like when we had triumphed in our own time. _

_But the man standing in the Armor of Wildfire, his eyes were hard, and filled with fire. A fire that burned all around him, causing the shadows to shrink back and dance further and further way. He was strong, and more experienced than I was as a Ronin. Our swords clashed together many times, his double swords pushing me back further and further away. I was defeated, but I had no fear. I wondered, as I looked up into that Wildfire's eyes as he brought me to my knees and readied a deathstroke, why I wasn't afraid. Was it because I knew my destiny, that I was so assured that I would survive that battle? Or was it because I did not fear death? Did I welcome it? If Wildfire had succeeded that day, would it have been a blessing that he would have ended my troubled soul?_

_But a great light fell upon me before Wildfire's swords could and I was lifted up. Talpa's power drew me back to his castle, saving my life. I never disillusioned myself in thinking that Talpa was concerned about me. He was more concerned about saving the armor. If I died, he would have easily found another corrupted soul to replace me. But it didn't matter to me. I was using him just as much as he was using me. _

_The time between battles was long and tedious. The ancient times I was living in didn't yield up much entertainment. Most of the time I either secured myself in darkness, or I was watching Talpa. The demon didn't become so powerful because he was stupid. I studied him both as an ally and as an enemy, for I was neither one or the other. I didn't want him to know that I was learning his strategies and plans; it was usually something a usurper might do. As time went on, I showed him more and more obedience, more because I feared that he would find out who I was. I didn't know what he would do, but I could guess it wouldn't be pleasant if he found out that I was once a Ronin that would help in his demise._

_Another event in my life that I remembered from those dark ages was the first time I saw the Armor of Halo as Cale. By this time, I was less than green on the battlefield and no more was I squeamish about taking a life. The ground was littered with bodies from both sides, and Talpa's army had the advantage. My division was pressing forward through the enemy so easily when Anubis came running up to me, wounded. He quickly told me how his squadron had been attacked and cut down as if it were nothing. And only by one man, a Ronin. He had engaged the Ronin in battle, and had lost. _

_I was about to fall back to take Anubis back to Lord Talpa, but then the Ronin peeked over a hill in the distance. Even with his back to the sun, there was no mistaking the armor's shape and aura; I knew them both well enough to name the armor._

_Everything around me melted away, the battle, Talpa, Anubis, even Cale melted away. All I could see was that armor with the fair face of the young man that I envisioned there, violet eyes staring back at me._

_Nothing could have stopped my anger from rising and charging my entire body with dark energy as I bore down on the Halo armor. My words met with his no-datchi and sparks flew from the contact of metal. Black and light lightning clashed together all around us as our aura's fought just as hard as our bodies. I could see my former friend's face mirror the same hatred which I imagined to be on my own countenance, an expression I had never seen on him before yet I wasn't surprised by it. It was just proof of what my armor told me, that this was his true self._

_Our fight didn't last long. He was strong, calm and in control of his armor's powers, while I had rushed head first to an opponent with blind rage. Halo's surekill engulfed me, trapping me in a wall of entire light. The pain was immense; it felt as if my heart was going to explode as if something sharp was tightening its hold over it. My scar also hurt just like the days that it was fresh, as if blood were flowing freely from it. The nerves around my right eye were on fire, and I found that I was incoherent from any logical thought. I laid their crying out until the light dissipated, or I passed out. I don't know which happened first._

_When I came to, I was back in Talpa's castle. As to why I wasn't dead or taken captive is still beyond my understanding. Both Anubis and I were punished that day for our failure, but Talpa's rage wasn't compared to my own for the Halo armor. However, whatever fates out there decided that that incident wouldn't be my last meeting with that particular Halo._

_From that point, the next few decades were more clear than the rest of my history. My determination was renewed, and I no longer had to wait for Sage, for Sage had come to me. I lived for the next battle when I could met the Halo bearer in combat. I became obsessed in fighting him. I would beg Lord Talpa every chance I had to confront the green armor, and I found myself lucky that he found my enthusiasm for the extermination of Halo pleasing. For my blind obedience, he gave me those chances._

_But time and time again, I failed. In the times that I sulked in the darkness or bore through Talpa's punishments for failure, I had much to think about. Most of my memories were muddled, as if they had all been dumped in a pool and stirred together; most had sunk to the bottom where I could barely see them or not at all. There was a few that I remembered, and those ones visited me with gruesome clarity in my nightmares. The only thing that I had for some comfort was the wooden bead around my neck. As a habit, I would often roll it between my thumb and finger, letting my sensitive skin rub against the carved kanji. I remembered that the kanji for "protection" had been painted on it, but it was long worn off. To remember it, I used a small knife to carve the kanji, so it couldn't be lost. Feeling the groves of the carved character calmed me, but the meaning behind the word was gone from my mind._

_The irony of wearing the bead was not lost to me, but I could not bear to get rid of it, even as it felt like the darkness itself telling me to throw it away. I knew from the last remains of Rowen that I had to keep it, that it was the last bit of the real me that had stayed._

_It wasn't long after the battle where we lost the Armor of Hardrock when I had my last battle with the Halo armor. It had been decades since we first clashed swords, and the war had been going for a long time. We, Warlords, had been given immortal life by Talpa, but I wondered if the Ronins had the same from the Ancient One. Every time I had seen the Halo armor, out of the battle mask I could see the young face of the Halo I knew, looking no different than the day I left his house with my face bleeding. The same was true the day of our final battle._

_We were alone, the fighting of the other armors was happening further away. I had led him away so that it could be just us two. _

_Our swords struck each other as the struggle begun. Darkness and light flew overhead as if the two elements were fighting along side us. Before, I had noticed that we were both evenly matched. Besides the first where he utterly defeated me, all our battles had ended in us fighting until we each had no more strength or were interrupted by one of the other armor bearers. But that day, I noticed that Halo wasn't as fast as he used to be, his sword didn't hit mine as hard and his reaction time was slower. I laughed at the advantage, filling my rage and adrenaline rushing through me. _

This is it. This time you're mine_, I thought as I charged my sword with dark lightning for my surekill._

_The Halo went down after the attack and struggled to get up._

_"This is it, Halo," I said to the face that seemed to be light incarnated. "This is the end. You won't haunt me any more."_

_I hesitated for a moment. While I welcomed the chance to end my torment, there was something strange. Halo. . .Sage. . .said nothing. Nothing to explain or defend himself. Nothing to me about what happened that night. He just gave me this look of defiance, as if he had been in the right, that he was the one who had been hurt._

_It galled me that he didn't even try to utter one redeeming word after all the sorrow and pain he had put me through. From the beginning of my ordeals, the question often popped up that I wondered about. Could I really kill him? Did I have it in me to kill my best friend? Yet at that moment, it didn't even cross my mind as I drove my sword through his throat. _

_The liquid of the man's life covered my sword as I drew it out, and I watched without feeling as the body fell to the ground._

Halo is dead,_ the voice in my head said._ Your revenge is complete.

Yes it is,_ I thought as I looked into the dead violet eyes. _It is over_. But something bothered me. Something I was trying to remember, but it was like a fog floated over my past. It was like something didn't want me to remember some little detail._

_Suddenly, my heart began to hurt, much like it would when I was exposed to a great amount of light. It was cold and ached like my blood had turned into arctic water. I recall that there were soothing words, telling me to give in to the darkness now that Halo was dead._

_But then I remembered. _How could this be Halo? _A part of my past came to me, and I remembered the time-line that I had skipped back to. The Halo that I wanted to kill hadn't even been born yet. _

_As I thought this, the pain started to subside. I stood up straight, and looked around for any sign of danger in case someone was going to take advantage of me in my moment of weakness. It was then that I noticed the slain Halo. I narrowed my eyes, and studied the man's face. The corpse in the Halo armor had no resemblance of Sage Date. The person that lay at my feet was older, his black hair was greying, and his face bore the lines of time. I wasn't sure if it was a trick played by an enemy or by my own mind. Either way, I was careful from that point on whenever I was in the vicinity of the Halo armor._

_Ever since I renounced the title of Strata, I was the most obedient servant of Lord Talpa. It is the only pock on my record that I did not bring the Halo with me to the castle that day. While I did everything for my Lord in his war against humanity, it disgusted me more than anything at the thought of having Halo as my ally._

_The decades passed by me like water in a cive. After a century, time was a concept that immortals didn't seem to notice. I did grow older. It was a subtle change. My face grew more mature and my body mass thickened. I stopped growing when I looked to be in my late twenties, the peak of physical health. But my age wasn't the only thing that changed. It was like darkness changed me as well. My hair darkened as did my skin. Soon, when I looked into the mirror, I saw a face that was familiar to me, someone I had seen before but not in a mirror. The feeling was strange, but I didn't dwell on it much. _

_Dais and Sekhmet came later on in the war. When the white-haired bearer of Illusion came into Talpa's employ, he quickly attached himself to me. We never became friends, but he took an immediate dislike of Anubis. He found the difference between Loyalty and Obedience to be very different, and found Anubis' groveling sickening. I admit that I often fell into Dais' trap of siding with him. He had a way with words that made you want to be on his side. I was thankful that he never turned his talent onto me._

_It wasn't long after Dais' arrival that Sekhmet joined the ranks; I almost didn't recognize him. Just like my armor, a few decades living in the armor of Venom changed him; it made my transfiguration look simple._

_It took Sekhmet a while to open up to the rest of us Warlords. At first he was a loner, much how I was, but it wasn't a desire to be alone. He would watch us patiently, sometimes he could creep around silently so he could observe us. I don't know what he was looking for, but whatever he decided, he joined up with Dais. Against the three of us, Anubis was sorely outnumbered, much like the youngest sibling in a family._

_But the companionship of my fellow Warlords was something that didn't interest me. Neither did the battles, wars, soldiers and the numerous faces of the individual Ronins; they all passed by me as if I saw standing still during time. There was never peace, only war. With all the monotony of a life with Talpa, it wasn't a surprise when I could feel a change in the air._

_And the change came with one last battle._

_I could tell that something was going to be different when it was only the Ancient One that stood up against us. Even as a team, we were no match for the Ancient One. The last thing I remember during that fight was the brightness of the staff causing me so much pain that I was left consciousness._

_I don't know how long we slept. I never tried to keep track of where I happened to be in history, and I didn't care. It was later on that I realized that I woke up in the modern age. I also woke up to a startling wake up call._

_Something began poking me, bringing me out of years and years of darkness._

_"Hey, get up," the voice told me. It sounded familiar and persistent. I could hear my armor rattling against itself as someone shook me over and over again. I opened my eyes, and saw three faces clearly out of my one good eye._

_"Wake up, Cale," one of the faces said again._

_"Wha. . .Huh." My mind wasn't cleared up. "Why did you call me that? That's not my name."_

_"Are you stupid?" the face framed in white hair asked with a sardonic grin. "Get up or Talpa will get angry."_

_"Talpa? Who's that?" I asked, only wanting to go back to sleep._

_"He's messed up. He's been asleep too long."_

_"Get up now, Cale. It won't be long before the Ronins sense us."_

_That word brought back a sense of determination within me. I found myself completely awake if not exactly lucid._

_"Halo," I growled, my eyes opening despite the bright light. "He's here."_

_"They're not here yet, but if you lollygag any more they'll be knocking at our gates before we know it."_

_My senses were slow to wake up, but it was merely the memory of my long sought for nemesis that stirred me. All the other Halos that I had fought, they weren't the one. But I could sense him, my betrayer, my enemy. He was close, and our destinies would soon become entwined liked two fighting cobras._

_And I was right. My eyes were blazing as I first saw him after eons, standing in the armor of Halo, his eyes defiant as if he knew my intentions. _

_The other four boys I had no interest in, but the torment of Halo was a pleasure I asked of my master, Talpa. My lord seemed pleased with my sadistic fascination with the green suited warrior, but his will was to be followed. My desires were of no consequences to him. I was there to serve him in what way he asked of me. But if our goals were to be one and the same, who was he to stand in the way of my ambitions._

_But even as I tried to ignore the other Ronins, there was something that drew my attention to the Armor of Strata. Fierce, blue eyes glared up at me and my fellow Warlords with determination that was so familiar. There was a strange feeling inside of me when I looked at Strata, something I hadn't felt in a long time; it was a feeling I couldn't identify. Was it sympathy, kinship or something else? Was there even a touch of fear when I looked upon the young warrior? Who was this young man who was given the mantel of Strata? Was he familiar? _

_Just as quickly as our first encounter with the Ronins had come about, it ended. With a quick word from Talpa, he scattered the Ronins far from us in an attempt to keep them from combining their powers against him._

_Despite my blind obedience in my master, I couldn't help but laughing at Talpa's plight. Of the one thing that I remembered from my past, it was that I knew the fate of my master. Yes, it was something that amused me to no end. I knew that he believed to be manipulating all four of us Warlords, that he thought that he was using me. I could have laughed in his face at how fooled he was. Never would he have known that I was using him to get to my means._

_And I soon faced Halo. Oh, how I had longed for that day. My patience of waiting for time to shift by me for that one precious day that I came face to face with my bitter rival. And I failed, horribly. Oh, had fate been cruel that day. Was not my patience enough payment for that moment? What else did I have to give up to defeat my enemy? I had become evil for the sake of fighting evil. No, the hypocrisy of my words weren't beyond me. Let me be a hypocrite. Let me be submerged in evil. Let me feel the pain of my old scars and the ache in my heart whenever light touched me without my armor. It was worth it all to finally have the revenge I wanted for eons, a revenge whose memory had grown so cold it was covered with ice that hide it from my mind._

_I continued to endeavor in my goal, and waited for my moment one more time. Once more my patience paid off, and I was matched against the Light warrior. With renewed determination and a different strategy, I felled my nemesis. Victory was in my sight. I was about to finish Halo, when my Lord stopped me. To my eternal frustration, Talpa wanted the warrior brought to him alive. The injustice of it all, having Halo within my grasp, tore me up. I had thoughts of disobeying right there, to defy Talpa. But my armor resisted. Obedience was part of it, and thus it was part of me._

_I did as I was told with disgust, taking the unconscious body in green armor to my master. There I asked him the one boon, the only thing I asked for in all my service, to do away with Halo. But I was denied by Talpa's sadistic desire to torture Halo and the two other Ronins in his grasp in order to taunt the remaining two free warriors._

_A short time later, the three had escaped, taking away my best chance at finishing my business. I had failed again_

_My failures made me rethink things. I retreated inward, seeking answers that I had forgotten as Cale. _

Who am I?

It doesn't matter. Just get Halo.

I can't. He's beyond me.

Try again.

No. There's something missing here. It's not as I remembered it.

_The tiny voice that had led me to the armor I hold, it tried to prevent me from remembering something. But I would not be swayed by the voice this time. I looked back, as far as I could remember. I followed my thoughts back and back, through more years than any man should be able to look through. I went back beyond the time of the Armor of Cruelty._

_Pain. There was pain. And blood. My scars had been cut by someone. The face cleared, and I saw the face of my hated foe. Was this the cause of my rage? No, I knew that right away. Halo had far greater sins on his hands than this. But his face was different in my memory. Older. He was older in my memory. How was that possible? That was hundreds of years ago, how could he be older?_

Time_._

_Then I remembered. I was sent back in time. I didn't know how or why. I just knew it happened, and that time had worn away at my memories as wind could wear away a mountain. I tried to remember further back, but it was too fuzzy. My head started to hurt, and the only image I recalled was that of sad green eyes staring up at me as they fell from my reaching hand._

_But that was all that I needed, and I knew the reason that I couldn't defeat Halo, nor why I wouldn't defeat him anytime soon. This Halo was innocent; I had no reason to take my revenge from him. And that thought calmed me all the way to the core. I could wait._

_The voice inside me kept telling me to kill him, try and try again. I knew that I would not win if I tried once more, but to keep up the appearance to the voice and to Talpa, I continued to fight the Ronin Warriors. It was that strange idea that kept me calm, even in the last moments of my master's life when he took us Warlords into his body._

_And just as quickly as it seemed that Talpa had won, then the entire war was over with the Ronin Warriors standing in victory. Talpa was gone, and we were told we were free. It seemed strange that they would just let us go after being enemies for so long. But the sacrifice of Anubis had touched my fellow Warlords, and with the young Kayura joining us, it seemed that we had turned over a new leaf. And even though ever fiber of my body wanted to continue the feud with Halo, my soul knew that this wasn't the time._

_If there was something I knew very well, it was time. And so I was content to wait once more, for I knew that fate would bring Halo back to me. And the next time we fought, he would not escape me again._


	9. Chapter 8 : The Beginning of It All

Changes in Destiny

Ch. 8: The Beginning of It All

By Emilou AKA Hatashi Kitty

(Author's note: It's been a while, hasn't it? Heh heh. Another one down. I'd like to that those who will read this, it's nice to know that some of my work entertains people. Also, there is some repeat scenes in here. That's the problem with time travel. This way, you get to see Cale's point of view through the plot. There's still new scene in this one. The next chapter will be the same, but I think it'll be more entertaining. I'm almost finished. Yay. I hope I'll see you readers soon. Thanks.)

Years had passed by since the day that Talpa had been vanquished. The Ronins had gone back to their normal lives, and their armors were at rest; so the Warlords and Kayura had supposed. Before they had split paths with the teenage boys, they had told the Ronins that they were going to fix a few loose ends that Talpa had left behind. They explained that Talpa's doors that led to the Nether Realm still existed, even if the Nether Realm didn't. The doors were invisible to most people, and wouldn't pose as any danger as long as they weren't open. But some people, those with more than usual spiritual senses, could see the doors. Before anyone could tamper with the doors, they would have to be sealed.

At least, that is the story that the Warlords and Kayura had given the Ronins. Which was all true, but not the whole truth. They didn't tell of a second danger those doors could become. Without the Nether Realm to be tied to, other dimensions could latch onto them. Creatures from other worlds could just as likely open the doors as well.

The reason the Ronins had been left in the dark was because the Warlords wished to do this duty alone. They felt that this task would help make up for everything they had done in the past. The Ronins had done enough for the world, and they should be given a rest.

It was all Kayura's idea. She had a sense of duty that the Warlords didn't share, but they went along with it since it felt right. And after a time of finding the doors, they felt their souls lighten after being away from Talpa's dark essence. They changed slowly; they came to care about mankind and each other. They became a team, and they felt no spite against the Ronins.

Except for Cale. He, too, changed. But there was a part of him that didn't change. His soul stayed in darkness, and he shunned away from the daylight. He felt no animosity for most of the Ronins, but at one mention of Halo, hatred would consume him.

They became like a sort of family, sharing memories, both good and bad. But Cale resisted becoming closer to the three. He talked and laughed with them, treating them like friends one minute. But as soon as talk came to Ronins or the past, he became moody and silent. Some days he preferred to keep to himself, and they could hear him mutter to himself as if he were talking to someone who wasn't there, rubbing the wooden bead he wore around his neck.

After a time, they avoided certain subjects around him, and he became less and less moody. The past seemed to fade away, and he smiled more.

Until danger came once more.

It had taken them years to find all the doors. Talpa had riddled the entire world with them so that dominating the planet would be a lot easier. They traveled and searched every inch of the world to find every last one of them.

When they thought that they had found all of them, they made a quick sweep of Japan. The island had been the center of Talpa's plan, so there had been more doors there. When going through Hokkaido, they found one they had missed.

It was hidden behind a shrine which had blocked them from sensing it. And it was slightly ajar.

Most of the time, the doors they had found were shut. Rare cases, the doors had been opened either by humans with spiritual senses or by the occupants of the other dimension that it led to. Worst cases they had to deal with was retrieving a human that had wandered in, or something that came out, usually something benign. But at this last door, it wasn't the same.

* * *

"This one is going to be difficult," Dais muttered as he looked the situation a little closer. The three Warlords and Kayura were on the sidewalk just outside of the shrine in modern clothes. They looked around gates of the shrine a while, knowing they wouldn't look too suspicious since a few tourists nearby were doing the same. The Warlord of Illusion looked around the gate. "The door is too close to the shrine. We're going to have to shift the door before we close it."

Kayura looked worried. "Is that really necessary? The door is already open a crack, and dark energy is seeping into this world. I'm very sure that the rise in crime and illness during the past few years is due to whatever is behind that door."

"If we move the door, more than dark energy could come out from that door," Sekhemt agreed, looking quite grim.

Dais nodded. "We can't reach the lock without moving it. If we're quick, we can move it, and shut it quickly," he told the others. During their years on the road, Dais had become a sort of leader. He didn't know how that had happened, he really didn't see himself with the qualities for the job. But in their mismatched team, he was the best candidate for the job. Even though the other's looked to him for direction, he still preferred that they all gave their opinion first before he made a decision. "What do you think, Cale?"

Cale was leaning against the cement wall, trying his best to hide from the sun. His dark complexion was unusually pale for him, even without his armor. He turned his dark eyes up to the long fair-haired man. "I think we should wait for dark to take a better look. The situation may look different once we see how far the shrine and the door are."

Kayura immediately responded to Cale's words. "It's _dark_ energy seeping out. There's a big possibility whatever is causing the energy is stronger at night. It's best to do this during the day."

"Agreed," Dais told the young woman. "That's logical. But that doesn't mean we can't get a good look at it as soon as the tourists depart. That will at least let me set up an illusion so we don't get disturbed during our work."

It was routine for Dais to make an illusion when they were working on a door. When they worked with Talpa, he made it so nobody remembered what happened during his short reign in Toyama. However, they only had Dais's armor to help them be discrete.

"We'll come back an hour before sun-down. The shrine should be closed by then, and we'll be able to work at our leisure. If we can't finish the job by nightfall, then we can start again in the morning," Dais decided.

* * *

Just as Dais had guessed, at their allotted time, the shrine was deserted save for an old man who was the owner. He lived on the property in a small home. He, however, didn't stay that night due to a young woman with purple hair that came running and rapping at his door with a warning of a gas leak. The old man didn't stay there for long, and went to stay with some relatives across town.

For the rest of the waning day, the shrine looked peaceful and empty to a passerby. But if a person walked through a thin veil of illusion that was set up around the perimeter, they would have seen four large, menacing looking armor clanking around the shrine.

"Yeah, we're definitely going to need to move the door. There's not enough space for us to get in between it and the shrine," Dais said after taking a closer look. "Let's set this up. I'll move it with my aura. Cale and Sekhmet, you stand over there and get ready to push the door closed. Be quick. We can't have anything coming out," he said. As they were standing near the door, they could faintly here strange noises, distant howls and screams. It was a little unnerving.

Cale and Sekhmet nodded, taking their place where Dais directed. Sekhmet flexed his shoulders and neck, preparing for his job; he didn't notice as Cale shifted nervously.

The Warlord of Darkness breathed deeply, trying to ignore the pain. His heart and scar had started to hurt. It seemed to get worse throughout the day, but he owed it to the sun that he had been standing in. Sweat trickled down his neck into his helmet even though he wasn't hot.

_Don't_.

Cale nearly jumped as he heard the voice, the strange voice within his head. He hadn't heard the voice since Talpa died.

_Run away._

Cale calmed his heart, feeling it beat painfully in his chest quicker at the presence of the voice. And for once in a long time, he wondered why the voice was back, but responded to it anyway.

_Why?_

_We must not touch it._

_It?_

_Run away._

Cale was confused and didn't listen as Dais direct Kayura to be ready to lock the door. He barely pulled away from the voice and his thoughts as Dais gave the word that he was moving the door.

Pushing at the dimensional door with his aura, Dais moved the door further away from the shrine and closer to the other Warlords.

"Now," Sekhmet told his companion, and quickly moved in front of the door so he could throw his weight against it. "Move it, Cale," he shouted at his companion, who hesitated to follow.

Cale's shoulder met with the door, feeling like he was trying to move a mountain. The door didn't seem to budge from two Warlord's strength.

"Push," Sekhmet grunted.

"I am," Cale growled, digging his heels into the ground. And then the sharpest pain hit him in the chest. It felt like a dozen bolts of lightning had hit him in the heart, zapping his strength.

"Cale, what are you. . .?" Sekhmet muttered in confusion, seeing the Warlord stop pushing and falling to his knees. However he could give his companion little attention as he felt himself slide backwards from the door pushing open

"Cale!" Kayura called out, seeing the man fall.

"No, the door," Dais shouted. After using his aura on the door, he was in a weakened state. But he rushed to the door as quick as he could to Sekhmet's side. "Close it."

"I'm trying," Sekhmet bellowed.

Kayura ran to Cale's side, kneeling to see what was wrong.

"Leave him," Dais commanded. "We have to close this now."

Kayura looked down at Cale, and then left him. With her added strength, the three of them were enough to close the large door. But before they could feel a sense of victory, they felt the cold darkness nearby, and then they knew something had been let out of the door. They all could feel the night closing in around them, even though there was a little light up. And then it appeared.

The creature was small, tiny, almost fragile looking. It looked like an animal half-starved, but instead of flesh and blood, it was made of shadow and blackness. It growled at them, a noise that sounded like glass in a grinder.

Kayura immediately went to Cale in an attempt to protect him from the creature. The other Warlords took out their weapons to attack it. They all knew at that moment that if they didn't put that thing back through the door, the consequences could be devastating. They slowly approached it, not knowing what it would do. They expected it to run away.

But it attacked them, its tiny figure made it agile and fast compared to their cumbersome armors. It clawed and bit ferociously, screaming and howling in victory as Sekhmet and Dais fell in pain as dark energy serged through their armors where it's teeth and nails damaged them.

"Kayura. . ." Dais grunted, but didn't say anything more.

The young girl stood up, not knowing what to do. Was Dais going to tell her to run away, or did he want her to fight as well even knowing how powerful the creature was? She stood up, and lifted the deadly weapon of the Ogre, stepping in front of Cale.

During all of this, Cale stayed on his knees. He had no idea what was going on, every bit of his concentration distracted by the pain. But he could sense something dark. It was like him, but not like him. They were the same, but different. He opened his eyes, and blurry vision set upon a shadowy creature. He squinted, the imagine familiar to him. Why was that? And as he saw the creature, he remembered the broken body of a red-headed girl. His memory was so clear, it was as if the girl was standing right in front of him, smiling sadly as blood ran down her face. He lifted a trembling hand to the image.

_Run_, the voice echoed in his head.

The creature seemed startled, turned around and ran away.

While the other three wondered about the strange turn of events, Cale didn't seem to notice. The image of the girl disappeared, and then his world went black.

* * *

After relaying what Cale had missed, the two Warlords and Kayura questioned their companion what happened to him. Cale answered their questions honesty since he had no idea why the sudden pain incapacitated him, or what had made the creature run away. During his time passed out, they had moved him somewhere safe, and took turns watching him while the others went looking for the creature. During that night, they kept hearing its unearthly screams and howls, but couldn't track him.

"And?" Cale asked, seeing expectation in the other's eyes.

"And. . .we just wanted to see if you had any ideas. Suggestions. Any kind of guess as to what happened last night," Sekhmet continued on.

"I just told you, I don't know," Cale growled.

"But you must have a hypothesis," Sekhmet pestered. "Could it have something to do with darkness? I could see that the creature's world is seeping with it."

"Is it now?" Cale asked with little care in his voice.

"That's how it appears. Why do you think that is?" Sekhmet asked suspiciously.

"Leave him alone. It isn't his fault," Kayura told the green-haired man.

"We know it's not, but it would be a good idea to know what's going on with this thing," Sekhmet said. "We know little to nothing about it, and it's still out there doing who knows what."

Dais nodded. "And whatever Cale has that repels it would be a great advantage."

"If you didn't notice," Cale growled, "but I was also in a lot of pain. Does that sound like an advantage?"

"The two may not be related," Dais argued.

"That's too big of a coincidence," Kayura said. "But it's a start. I think Sekhmet is right. Just as the sun rose, the creature's calls stopped."

"Then it's weakness is light. It must be hiding somewhere during the day," Dais concluded. "We still have a chance of finishing this thing. We'll find where its hiding, and take care of it. Let's go."

But they never found it. As the sun sank below the horizon in the evening, the creature's calls rose once more. The four tracked it by the sound, but couldn't find it before the sun came up again. By that time, they were exhausted and couldn't continue until the next night.

It was a strange defeat when their enemy had ran away. Not only did they not know who or what their enemy was, but they had no idea how to track it. For the time, they could only lock the door to the other dimension and wait. And they had to wait for a long time; time that was spent scouring the city and the countryside, looking for whatever it was that came out of the door.

It was Sekhmet who spotted it next. Or rather, it spotted him. A man had ran into Sekhmet while in armor. They all had been careful not to be seen while in their magical armor, and it was a complete surprise that Sekhmet didn't sense the man until he had rounded the corner. He expected the man to looked shocked and surprise, yell or cry out for help or something of that sort.

The man growled at him instead, crouching to the ground like an animal, his face looking darker due to the shadow of the building he was in.

Sekhmet was the one who was surprised by this, and thought that there was something wrong with the man. He asked the man what was wrong to try and help him. It didn't take much to sense the darkness that emitted from the man.

"Whoever you are, something is wrong with you. I will try to be kind in handling you, but I guarantee nothing," Sekhmet said to the man, and started to approach him with caution.

The man stood his ground, like an animal growling and snarling. He didn't back away from Sekhmet, but attacked him instead.

Once again, the Bearer of the Armor of Venom was surprised by the man's actions, and knew that he was mad. He dodged from the attack easily, the man's strength was nothing against his armor. However, he tried to grab a hold of the man. When his hand grabbed the man's bare arm, dark energy surged through his armor. Sekhmet cried out from the shock, feeling his armor weaken, and he lost his grasp as he fell to the ground.

The man growled again, and scampered away from one building shadow to another, running quickly through the patches of sunshine.

Sekhmet noticed the man's strange behavior, and noticed that he did not attack until he had stepped into the shadows as well. Sekhmet smiled at the knowledge that he learned. He stood up despite the pain, and followed after the man.

He was faster than the man, and quickly blocked his way into the shadows.

The man's face was full of feral desperation. He attacked once again, but Sekhmet knew now not to let him touch. He pulled out his swords, and blocked the man with the flat of the blade, dancing around him. He pushed at the man, making him move further and further from the shadows, glad that nobody else was around to see this. The last thing he needed was a crowd of people interfering with his business.

After a while, the man was sweating badly, tiring down.

"Don't worry, you'll thank me later," Sekhmet told the man. "Perhaps some more time in the sun will take away that darkness."

The man then fell to his knees, and started to heave. He growled and coughed like a sick cat, crying every once in a while like a human in pain.

"It hurts," the man cried out, grasping his stomach. Then he heaved once more, and a black vomit passed through his mouth onto the pavement.

Sekhmet took a step back with disgust, clenching his teeth to prevent himself from feeling sick.

Then the vomit puddle took form. It pulled away from the ground and shaped into a four-legged creature. It cried and screamed like an animal in pain, hissing at Sekhmet. But instead of attacking, it ran toward the shadows.

Sekhmet's battle instinct kicked in, and he followed the creature. Just as it was going to reach a shadowy place, he sliced down at it.

The creature dodged away, howling an unearthly cry and ran in a different direction.

Sekhmet blocked the creature's way and expected it to run away in a different direction. However, the creature ran through his legs swiftly, barely sliding past Sekhmet's blades as they targeted it. Sekhmet turned around quickly to go after the creature, but suddenly felt very weak. He fell to the ground with no strength left in his body, the weight of his armor pressing down on him. He could only lift his head long enough to watch the creature run away. If he stayed conscious long enough, he may have noticed that he no longer cast a shadow.

That was only one of many confrontations they had with the creature, each one giving them new and horrifying information on the creature, but hardly giving them a chance to capture the beast. But the more they learned, the more they knew of its weaknesses and able to test new ways to fight it.

It didn't take them long for them to realize that anything that had to do with Cale hurt the creature. They used that to their advantage, even though it hurt Cale as well. Kayura, Dais and Sekhmet didn't know what was worse, dealing with the creature or with Cale after they use him as a weapon. But every advantage had to be used.

The creature continued to run. Many times, it wouldn't chance a fight, but looked only for escape in the shadows or in the darkness of the hearts of men. That's where it could hide the best. Some men's hearts were very dark, and fed the creature's hunger. Because of this, casualties were hard to avoid. Once detected, the creature would abandon its host, most of the time the human wouldn't live after the separation.

It wasn't long until they realized that the creature wasn't just running away, it was running to somewhere. Or something. They followed it through half of Japan, and to their bewilderment, it stopped in the one city they wished never to come back to.

Toyama.

Using a technique that Cale had created with the other's help, they herded the creature in a small part of the city, keeping it out of the residential areas and more into the factory districts where there was less population. They patrolled the city to make sure the creature couldn't feed, and kept it at bay. But they were fighting a battle where neither side gained any ground.

That was when Kayura suggested to request the help of the Ronin Warriors.

At first the Warlords disagreed determinedly. They didn't need the help of boys. But after a small lecture from Kayura, they backed down. That night as Kayura went to see their old enemies, the three Warlords sat on a hill and kept an eye on the territory that Cale's dark net encased. Sekhmet and Dais sat next to each other and talked, but Cale kept to himself. Since he learned that he was to come to Toyama, he had an uneasy feeling. For the first time in years, he pulled out the wooden bead necklace that he had around his neck. His fingers felt over the crude carving of the kanji Protect.

He hadn't lived up to word through most of his life. And he often wondered if it was because there wasn't anything he wanted to protect. There was nothing he cared about enough to try and protect. He didn't even see his own life worth enough to protect. It was just instinct to raise his weapon now, but he didn't fear death. If it came to him, he wouldn't regret it.

No, there was one thing he'd regret. He would do anything to pay Halo back for the crimes he had committed.

Cale clenched his hand over the bead. Perhaps this was his chance to do that. Perhaps Fate was giving him this opportunity to do just that. Cale nodded, and kept that in mind.

Later that night, Kayura came back to them and told them when and where they were going to meet that Ronins. Once the sun rose, they would be heading out. But there would be no sleep for them. They still had the rest of the night to watch over the city. They split up to patrol the area, watching for the creature, and making sure the creature found no more victims.

However, Cale's mind wasn't on protecting the city. He had tucked the bead away into his armor once again, pushing the kanji's shape out of his mind. He had another goal in mind for when they teamed up with the Ronins the next day.

* * *

"This isn't good," Dais muttered as he looked out into the fog.

"It isn't natural either," Sekhmet added. "There's not enough moisture for the fog to linger this long when the sun is up. It must be the creature's doing."

"It feels so cold," Kayura said, rubbing her arms even though she was in armor.

Cale didn't say anything, but deep down he was grateful for the sun being covered up.

"If this continues, the creature will be able to go anywhere during the day," Dais said darkly.

The four of them knew if it came to that, there was just too many people to watch over. They were already over taxed by just watching it at night. And with it starved, who knew what it would do to get a meal.

"The Ronins can help us," Kayura told the others. "Our plan will work."

It didn't take long for her to explain it, and afterwards they didn't have to wait until the Ronins had arrived at the rendevous point.

"Thank you for coming, Ronins," Kayura greeted them, the rings of the staff clinking together as she walked. "We don't have much time to explain. We need to get rid of if this fog as quickly as possible."

"So, this fog is the demon's doing?" Halo asked.

"The demon is a creature of darkness," Sekhmet said to the Ronins. "It's trying to block out all light so it can come out."

"You can feel it, right Halo?" Cale asked, glaring eyes on the blond. "You can feel it trying to get rid of your element. Your armor feels very threatened, doesn't it?"

Cale saw Halo turned cold eyes onto him. He felt an inward satisfaction of being able to get under the young man's skin.

"The fog is getting thicker, we don't have much more time," Dais told them all as he slowly shifted his weight from one leg to the other in anxiety.

"Please, follow us, Ronins," Kayura requested, and then disappeared into the fog with the

Warlords.

The nine armor bearers ran in a line, Ronins and Warlords mixed together as they traveled through the city and up the taller buildings, much like they did when they were fighting in Talpa's war not too long ago. Kayura led them all to the tallest building in the city where she stopped and waited for the rest to gather.

"Halo, Strata, you are the only ones that can clear the fog," she called to the young men. "Use your armors together to clear away the fog. The light will weaken it and then scatter it with the wind."

Strata and Halo stepped forward, their weapons ready as they released their surekills.

Cale felt a sense of nostalgia stir within him as he heard Strata shout to call out his armor's power. But then Halo's light crackled and snapped throughout the atmosphere. Cale stepped back with bared teeth, the light causing his armor to react. His heart beat quickened at the presence of light, and an old familiar ache was there. A whisper of a thought flashed through his mind.

_Kill him!_

Cale looked away from Halo, and forced himself to relax. He focused his mind on the task of destroying this demon of darkness, and then he would be able to get as far away from Halo as possible.

* * *

If Cale had thought that being in the same city as Halo was too close, then being crammed into the same restaurant booth as the bearer of light was definitely invading on his personal space. But Kayura had been giving him the warning eye whenever they looked at each other ever since the Ronins had joined up with them. Cale would bear it, but he was determined not to enjoy it..

After Dais apologized to the Ronins for their tired and unkempt appearance, he gave a short explanation of the creature's night habits which left little room for them to sleep. From there, more questions came from individual Ronins since Kayura gave them very little information the night before. All of it was redundant information that Cale had discussed with Dais, Kayura and Sekhmet over and over before, so he tuned everything out. At least until Halo had sent him a dark look.

"Most armors," Halo muttered.

"What are you saying?" Cale growled, narrowing his eyes. Cale knew Halo was accusing him of something, but had not be paying attention to what was being discussed.

"You tell us. Your armor's domain is the darkness," Halo denounced. "You must have some sort of connection to this thing."

Cale was able to guess what was chaffing Halo, and took immediate offense to it. "Don't you dare compare my armor to that abomination. I would never connect myself to such evil," he shouted, standing up and pounding a large fist on the table.

Halo was on his feet in a second. "You associated with Talpa, and you have lived in darkness for years. How do we know you really have changed?" he demanded.

Kayura, the peacemaker, stepped in. "Halo, Cale, this is not the time. The past has been behind us for years. Let it go."

Cale felt the girl's touch on his arm. It was one of the few things that would have stopped him from continuing this argument. He didn't say any more, but still didn't sit down until Halo had done the same.

The conversation returned to the creature, and this time Cale listened to what everyone was saying. But all through breakfast, he kept his dark eyes on Halo.

_I'll stop you, Halo. I'll show them all what you really are_, Cale thought to himself. He tried to remember what exactly Halo had done to have inspired such loathing within himself, but all he could remember was the word _murderer, murderer, murder_er.

* * *

At the first sight of a couch, Sekhmet and Dais stumbled toward it. It was an awkward race, the two like a pair of zombies lurching toward the furniture and collapsing in a pile. Sekhmet pushed the other Warlord off the couch, and snuggled up with a pillow. Dais didn't seem to care that he had lost since he was already asleep once he hit the ground.

"Make yourselves at home," Strata mumbled to the two.

Kayura tried to stifle her giggles, and politely asked for a couple of blankets to cover the two.

"Since you're still standing, do you want a real bed?" Strata asked Cale.

Cale looked around the tiny apartment, deja vu falling over him. Or was it nostalgia? How did the home of Strata feel so familiar to him?

"Hey, are you awake?" Strata asked, waving a hand in front of the Warlord's face.

"Uh. . .yes, I'd like a bed," Cale said, remembering what the question was.

"Then follow me," Strata said, and moved down the hall. "It's kind of small, but I cleaned it recently. If you need anything just ask." He opened a door in the hall to a small room, and then left.

Cale felt like he was intruding in a space that he wasn't suppose to even though the owner had just let him in. His thoughts felt even more muddled than before, as if something inside him was preventing him from remembering. He stepped into the room and looked around. There were posters, books, school texts, a desk and lamp among other things. Cale swept his eyes around and saw pictures on the desk. He moved closer and spread them out with a few fingers. They were of the Ronins, some of them in front of a school, some outside in a grassy area, smiling and laughing. Cale felt his muscles tense as he saw Halo happy. What gave him the right to be happy? Didn't he care about the wrong he had done to Cale? Or was it the wrong he will do?

One photograph caught his eye, one under most of them. It was of a red-headed girl, but her face was turned away from the camera as if she was trying to hide from it. Cale didn't know this girl, at least not that he could remember, but he had a desire to see her face. Did she have green eyes? What did she look like?

Suddenly his heart started to hurt, as if a clawed hand suddenly clenched over it causing it to have to work harder to pump blood. Cale stumbled as he turned away, and looked around to see what would cause him to hurt. He looked at the window, and glared at the bright sunlight pouring in. He stumbled to the blinds to quickly shut them and block out the light. He breathed more easily in the darkness, his heart free from the sharp pain.

Without the ache, Cale wanted to look at the picture again, to gain back the feelings he had while looking at it. But it was so far away now, and the bed was closer. He fell forward onto the mattress, and fatigue took him.

* * *

It was hard for Cale to wake up. He had been a warrior for a very long time, and was used to waking up quickly and immediately, becoming aware of his surroundings. But this time it was different. He felt sluggish and slow, like after he had been sleeping for years. Or when he was younger.

Cale frowned as he tried to clear his head from sleep. When he was young? Could he even remember that far back? It felt so close, those memories that were so far behind him. But why were the brought to him now?

He shook his head and looked around. At first he didn't recognize his surroundings, but then he remembered coming to Strata's home. He looked at the blinds that covered the window. The little light that shone through was dim. It was almost dark. He quickly got out of bed and moved silently out of the room. He located the other Warlords, still sleeping where he left them. There was no sign of Kayura or the Ronins. But in the quiet, he could hear the sounds of voices conversing from a distance. He moved from the living room to the kitchen and the voices grew loud. He saw the Ronins out on the apartment balcony watching the sunset. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but he didn't try to move closer. After a while, the glass door slid open.

For some reason, Cale moved into the shadows, and blended into them. If he wasn't who he was, the three Ronins who came back into the house would have noticed him. But the shadows were part of him, and he remained unseen. When the Ronins left, Cale crept closer to the glass door. He could still hear two voice out on the balcony. And with the glass door open, he could hear what they were saying.

"What do you think of Cale? Am I just imagining it?"

Cale recognized that as Halo talking.

"Everyone noticed how he behaved this morning toward you. There is something strange about him, but at the same time he feels. . . familiar. Like a relative you've only met a few times coming to visit."

Cale knew that to be Strata, and he wondered about his words. A relative? Familiar? Yet, he felt something akin to Strata's words to the boy. But it was something more. Something he didn't know the name to. He listened on.

"Yeah, I know it sounds weird," Strata went on. "Just forget what I said."

There were some sounds of footsteps.

"Enjoy your star gazing."

Halo entered the house softly.

Cale clenched his fists, ready to defend himself if Halo spotted him. But the young man didn't look around, but just went in further into the apartment. Then Cale felt angry, suddenly guessing what the Ronins were talking about. They were talking about him. And Halo must have been in the thick of it, trying to poison the other Ronins with ugly ideas of Cale. Halo was trying to turn all of them against him. And at the end, he gave his best friend a double dose, making sure that Cale would be seen as the bad guy if anything happened.

Cale frowned as a thought disturbed him. He never was interested in the personal lives of the Ronins, it was a war back then. So, how did he know that Strata and Halo were best friends?

He was brought out of his thoughts by Strata's voice, and he almost forgot that the last Ronin was out on the balcony.

"Star light, star bright."

Almost automatically, Cale opened his mouth and said, "First star I see tonight." He didn't mean to give away his hiding place, but he couldn't help it like it was an old habit that never could be broken. He stepped out of the shadows where Strata could see him, and out onto the balcony.

"Actually, it's not a star. It's a planet. Venus. It's sometimes called the evening and morning star."

Strata looked nervous. Could the boy know that Cale was spying on him and Halo? He tried to act casual.

"Stars, planets. What's the difference?" Cale spat with contempt for the balls of light that were starting to appear against the dark blue. "They're all the same. Balls of light that do nothing, but sit there uselessly."

"Maybe to you," Strata shot defensively. "Without the stars, we wouldn't know North from South. We wouldn't have calendars, maps, telescopes. If there weren't any stars, men wouldn't have dreamed about traveling beyond the Earth, and we wouldn't have rocket ships, satellites, or any of our astrological science. It's like they inspire man to dream. Some people even believe that stars can predict the future."

"Dreams? Future?" Cale laughed with mocking smirk. He turned his dark eyes onto Strata. "You sound like an idiot, boy. Dreams are for those who can't face reality. And as for a future, it's never what anyone thinks it will be. I'll tell you what dreams are made of. Nothing. Beyond the so called future, there is nothing. There is nothing but darkness. That is where I am." Cale could feel the darkness all around him, and knew this to be truth. His future was darkness, and so was everyone else's.

"Maybe it's because you don't have any dreams, and you think you don't have a future," Strata muttered looking like he wanted to start a fight with Cale.

Cale grinned sadly. "You're right. I lost my dreams a long time ago. And when they were gone, I didn't care about my future. I only had darkness."

"Is that why you are a Warlord?"

Cale couldn't remember that far back, or something made him forget. He could only grin. "Yeah, I guess that's the reason."

Silence followed Cale's words, but he continued to watch Strata with a piercing glare. He was studying the youth, trying to figure everything out. His brain was so muddled, but it seemed like this young man was centered around all of it. He was the key to understanding who that red headed girl was.

"But you're not fighting for Talpa anymore," Strata broke the silence. "Then why are you still acting like Sage is your enemy?"

Cale's eyes went from interest to hatred. "Because Halo is still my enemy."

"But the war is over," Strata protested.

"Not this one," Cale growled at strata. "This war isn't over yet."

"But why?" Strata persisted.

_This is Halo's doing. He's put so much of his filth into these boys' heads, they'll turn against me at a moment's notice. Well, I can play at that game too, Halo,_ Cale thought to himself.

Cale grabbed Strata by the shoulders and pulled him until they were face to face. "Because Halo is a traitor and a murderer!" he whispered like a wolf would, glaring at the youth. "He may claim to fight for right and protect the weak, but he's nothing but a dirty, filthy. . ."

"That's not true!" Strata denied and broke from Cale's grip. "Sage was right; there is something wrong with you."

Cale chuckled. _Oh, naive fool_.

"Is that what Halo said about me? Like he knows me? Halo knows nothing about me, but I know all about Halo."

"What do you know about Sage?" Strata shouted at him. "You claim you know Sage, but you obviously don't. I've known Sage since we were kids, and I know he's not what you've said he is."

Cale chuckled and wondered if there really was something wrong with him. Why would he laugh at a time like this? It was Halo that had done him wrong, not the other way around. But Cale knew that Halo's true nature will eventually show through. And it will not be on his head if this boy didn't listen to him. "Fine, be a fool. But I won't let Halo trick me again. But listen to me, Strata. You say Halo is your friend, but watch him closely. He will betray you, and he'll do it soon. Watch him very closely."

Cale didn't expect Strata to become so hostile as the young man grabbed his collar jacket.

"Sage is my friend, and I trust him with my life," Strata said with as much conviction as any man. "And I wouldn't be his friend if I just stand here while you trash talk his name. I'm warning you, if you try to hurt him or any of my other friends, I'll definitely make sure you don't have a future."

Cale looked into Strata's eyes, and the young man's expression changed from anger to something else. Pity? Cale pulled away from Strata's grip and chuckled. "Fine, but I'm not the one you should be worrying about." Then he moved back into the apartment, leaving the young man to himself. As soon as he went inside, he suddenly felt very tired. He touched his forehead and it was hot and moist, like he was sweating. It almost felt as if he were near that horrible dark creature, but without the pain.

Cale shook his head, shaking off the idea. It was crazy. He put his hands in his pockets, and went to find the other Warlords. It was almost time for the hunt.

* * *

Just before they split up, they divided into groups of three. Cale listened to the discussion in silence. In each group, either Halo, Strata or himself had to be in each group, which was fine for him; the less he saw of Halo's face the happier he'd be.

But as the night grew deeper and darker, the Bearer of the Armor of Corruption felt agitated. Something in his memory stirred and made him restless. He could sense something in the air, as if fate was pulling on their strings in a certain way. Something was going to happen that night, and it wasn't going to be good. Cale was so preoccupied in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice Ryo pulling Kayura aside to talk in private. It was only after a tap on his armor from Kayura's hand that he came back to reality.

"Hey, we have our assignment. Let's go," the young woman told Cale, and twirled her staff. "Come on, Torrent."

"Coming," Torrent said, hesitant to leave his companions behind. He looked unsure of his new team mates especially since theirs was the only group with a single Ronin.

"You know Toyama better than we do," Kayura said as she pushed the map and walkie-talkie at Torrent. "You should lead us."

Torrent looked surprised and even more unsure of himself. It was obvious he didn't expect to lead anyone anywhere on this expedition. But he stumbled through a suggestion of where they should start their search, and after an encouraging smile from Kayura went on with that plan.

As the Ronin led the way on a rapid run, Kayura dropped back so she could talk to the Warlord.

"Is everything going well, Cale?" she asked and waited for those dark eyes to look down at her.

"Yes, everything is well save for the creature of darkness attacking the innocent," Cale told her, his tone telling her that he wasn't in the mood for small talk.

"Yes, besides that, are you okay?" Kayura pressed, matching the Warlord's tone. "Is there anything bugging you?"

"No," Cale stated.

Kayura pursed her lips together, preparing for another line of attack, so to speak. "You seem to be very irritated lately. You've been grumpier than usual."

"I'm fine," Cale told her, glancing slightly her way before concentrating on what was before him.

That was when Kayura knew this wasn't going to be easy, and decided to stop pussy-footing around it. "What's the deal with you and Halo?" she asked, her voice telling him that he better tell her or else.

"Mind your business, girl," Cale told her with a growl.

Kayura's face bunched up in a deep frown. She opened her lungs for maximum capacity as she spoke in a loud voice. "What you do and how you act is my business if it affects your performance on this mission. You obviously haven't forgotten that we are stalking a dangerous creature, and every minute that it is free could mean another victim, so you should know as a warrior how to keep your personal feelings to yourself so that you can be fit for battle."

"This has nothing to do with that," Cale shouted at her. "I can fight just fine. . ."

"If you have something against someone on your team, you deal with it in case it impairs your judgement," Kayura rounded on him. "And I don't want to have to hear about this again."

"Oh, was one of those Ronins complaining?"

The two were yelling so loudly at each other, they didn't seem to notice what Torrent was doing. The Ronin watched them fight at a distance, but then someone spoke his name over the radio, so he turned his attention to the walkie-talkie. Torrent talked normally through the radio, often looking back at his companions while they continued to argue.

Suddenly, someone was shouting over the radio, their voice urgent.

"Ryo! Ryo!"

"Rowen, what is it?"

"I. . I think we found it. Sekhmet says that it's definitely the creature that we've been looking for."

Torrent gripped the walkie-talkie like it was a snake that he had caught, and if he let go it would bite him. He shouted at his companions, "Rowen's group has found it."

Kayura and Cale immediately stopped fighting with each other, and gathered around him listening to the voices on the walkie-talkie.

"Where is it?"

"We're at the high school, in the football field."

Cale grabbed the walkie-talkie from Torrent, and asked into it urgently. "What is it doing?"

He recognized Strata's voice answering. "It looks like it's attacking the air, it can't go any further."

"It's the shield." That was Dais' voice from Ryo's walkie-talkie. "It's been attacking that area ever since we put the shield last night."

A half-formed thought came into Cale's mind, one that he wasn't all too certain of. It almost felt like animal instincts telling him what was going to happen before it did. He knew which team was closest to the area. He shouted into the radio with such power that Kayura and Torrent stepped back, "Halo, get over there now."

Ignoring all other talk that came from the machine, Cale took off in the direction of the high school without being told where it was, and not caring if the other two armor bearers followed. Dark whispers told him he shouldn't go in that direction, that he should keep away. He had lived with those dark whispers for so long that he wondered why he didn't heed them. But there was another voice that spoke to him, a voice that he was sure he knew, but hadn't heard for a very long time. It told him to hurry in that direction.

And he ran.

"The creature is out! It's out of the net. How did it get out?" Strata's voice shouted from the walkie-talkie.

Cale's heart quickened, and he ran faster. There was someone in trouble. The creature was after someone that he cared about. He was certain of that. He had to get to her. He had to save her and protect her. Cale's head was so full of thoughts and memories that were bubbling out from the past that he didn't notice Torrent taking the walkie-talkie away.

"Where are you? Where is it going?" Torrent shouted into the walkie-talkie.

"It's after Robyn!" Strata's voice answered.

Cale didn't see Torrent's face drain of color because of what Strata had said. The name "Robyn," it was such a strange name. It wasn't a common name, but it was familiar with him. Suddenly, his head hurt as if a red hot poker was shoved into his brain. He slowed down as more and more memories flooded in his already confused mind. He could see things that had happened, but they hadn't happened.

Cale vaguely heard Torrent plead into the radio, "Rowen, you gotta save her! Please!"

_She must be saved_, Cale knew that above everything else. He was in great pain, but he knew only one truth. This Robyn must be saved. And there was only one who could do that.

Cale snatched the walkie-talkie, and shouted in it, "Where is Halo? He needs to be there. He's the only one that can keep the creature at bay."

"Sage, where are you? Hurry, we're there." That was Strata's voice. And then they heard him swear.

"What is it, Rowen? What's going on?" Torrent asked, his voice shaking.

"Y-your house," Strata said in a soft voice. "It's a wreck."

"Where's Robyn?"

"I don't know," Strata confessed. "We're going in. I'm not going to be able to talk in this thing."

"We're right behind you," a strong voice said in the walkie-talkie.

"Where the hell have you been, Halo?" Cale snarled.

There was no answer.

"It would probably be best if we kept radio silence now that some of us are on the battlefield," Kayura told Cale, and gently took the walkie-talkie from Cale. "And we should pick our speed up. We are further away, and we should join our comrades."

Torrent was already further in front of them, especially since he knew better where they were going.

Cale clenched his teeth like a wolf bearing his teeth. _That girl better be alright, Halo. Because if she isn't, I'm holding you responsible._ It was strange for him to think those kind of thoughts. How could he be so passionate about someone he had never met before? What was happening to him? He couldn't answer any of these questions.

Suddenly, his heart seized as if a hand of nails had grabbed a hold of it. The shock of the sharp, intense pain made his legs lock up, and he fell to the ground, his armor preventing him from being hurt by the fall. But any injuries he would have attained from the fall would have been drowned out by the raging agony in his chest. Vaguely, he was aware of Kayura shouting and standing above him. For a few minutes, he was unable to move or even think. His world was a searing white even though it was night, and he forgot everything else.

Then, just as it came, it left.

Cale looked up and in the dark sky, bright beams of light jumped from the ground at a distance. It was like a few dozen bolts of lightning were dancing with each other, flashing and crashing all around them.

"Halo, he made it," Kayura said with an exhale of relief. "That's his surekill."

"Halo," Cale growled so softly Kayura couldn't hear him.

"Is he going to be okay?" Torrent asked.

"He should be. We've learned that the proximity of the creature causes him pain," Kayura admitted. "But the distance has never been this great. It must have been masking its power until now."

Cale sat up, his breath heaving. As he did, he could see Torrent's face looking toward where the lightning was with a look of horror and ultimate concern. It bothered him. Even though he was utterly exhausted, he stood up. "We better go see what the damage is," he said in a husky voice.

"But you should rest some more," Kayura said, noticing how slowly her companion moved.

"I'm fine," Cale said simply. "I can make it that far. Let's go."

For a while, Kayura and Torrent had to go slowly for his benefit, but after a few minutes, he improved immediately.

"The creature is gone," Cale told the others.

"Is it destroyed? Did they get it?" Torrent asked quickly.

Cale shook his head. "I doubt it. The pain slowly went away."

They ran the rest of the way without a sound. It wasn't hard to tell when they arrived to the site. A two story house was literally ripped apart with boards and furniture littering the yard and road as if a tornado escaped from the home. Several of the armor bearers were nearby.

Torrent ran faster than Cale and Kayura, going to where Dais, Hardrock and Halo surrounded a red-headed girl. Dais and Hardrock were yelling at each other.

"Robyn!" he shouted, and wrapped his arms around her.

Kayura quickly ran up to Dais, and shouted in her angriest voice, "Oh, stop it, you two. You promised me you wouldn't cause any trouble, Uncle Dais."

Torrent let go of the red-headed girl to watch Kayura yell at the men, and everything that was said after Cale shut out. The girl looked around at all the armor bearers, and for a second her eyes rested on him. He froze as if he had been struck by lightning. It was the same red hair and green eyes, the same face that had been haunting him for centuries. When she looked at him, everything came back to him all at once. The random images, the blurry thoughts, everything that had been disturbing him for lifetimes, it all cleared up. History fell into place. Any question of his identity, of where he came from, were all answered. It all happened with just a glance of those eyes, the first time he'd seen them in person for years.

Alive.

He didn't know how long he had been looking at the girl, but was suddenly brought to reality from an elbow in the ribs. He looked over, and saw Dais next to him.

"What is it?"

"You were starring."

Cale tried to act nonchalant, and looked away from the girl in a casual way. Looking away quickly would only look suspicious. "No I wasn't. I'm just tired," he lied.

"Fine," Dais said and left to address the other Warlords.

Cale started to follow, but he looked back at Robyn, the girl who had been staring at him for centuries. And he remembered why.


End file.
